September 30, 2021

USA: California Female Shaman Eco-Terrorist Charged With Arson In Connection With Starting The Fawn Fire Linked To Other Blazes In California. Calfire Has Arrested 103 Persons For Arson YTD.

ABC10 News published September 24, 2021: Shasta County files felony charges against Fawn Fire Arsonist. Statistics to date in the Shasta CalFire unit we've made 14 ARSON ARRESTS and Statewide CalFire arrested 103 persons for ARSON.
 
USA Today
written by Michele Chandler, Redding Record Searchlight
Monday September 27, 2021

REDDING, Calif. — The Bay Area woman charged with arson in connection with starting the Fawn Fire earlier this week may be linked to other blazes in California, Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said during a press conference Friday morning.

Felony charges were filed this week against Alexandra Andreevna Souverneva, "not only for arson, but also for committing an arson during a state of emergency," which carries a nine-year prison term, Bridgett said.

As the investigation into the Fawn Fire is still underway, Bridgett added, additional charges are likely, based on final damages and outcome of the probe.

The complaint was filed Friday at Shasta County Superior Court.

On Friday afternoon, Souverneva, 30, entered a plea of not guilty during an arraignment before Judge Adam Ryan. The judge said he increased her bail to $150,000 from $100,000 for the felony charge of arson on forest land, plus $25,000 for a related misdemeanor, arson during a state of emergency.

Ryan said he considered the damage the wildfire has so far caused in increasing the bail amount.

During the court appearance, an attorney said Souverneva had made statements to law enforcement that indicated a possible mental health crisis "or something to do with drug abuse."

That attorney said the day after Souverneva was released from the Shasta County Jail on her own recognizance, "she started the Fawn Fire. She is also under suspicion for starting other fires."

Asked whether Souverneva admitted setting the fire, Bridgett said at the press conference: "I can't get into any further facts than we have already revealed at this time."

At the press conference, Bridgett said that Souverneva has also had law enforcement contact related to arson "in our county and other counties as well." Bridgett declined to identify other fires Souverneva might be connected to.

According to a narrative filed by a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection law enforcement officer, a worker at JF Shea Quarry had reported seeing a woman trespassing on the company's property about 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 22.

She was told she was not allowed on the property, but ignored those warnings and continued walking into the vegetation, according to narrative.

Later that day, Cal Fire firefighters were dispatched to a vegetation fire on the same property.

At about 8 p.m. on Wednesday, while crews worked to extinguish the fire, a Cal Fire captain reported he contacted a woman at the fire's edge. She was "medically cleared" at that time, the narrative said.

Asked why she was in the area, Souverneva said she'd been hiking, attempting to get to Canada, according to the report. Along the way, she said she became thirsty and found a puddle of water containing what she believed to be bear urine, according to the report.

Souverneva said she unsuccessfully tried to filter the water with a tea bag, according to the narrative. Then she attempted to make a fire to boil the water, but found it was "too wet for the fire to start," the report said.

According to the report, "she said she drank the water anyway and then continued walking uphill from the creek bed," where she saw smoke and airplanes "dropping pink stuff." After that, Souverneva got stuck in the brush and ultimately contacted fire department personnel to assist her, said the report.

Cal Fire officer Matt Alexander said in the court filing that he was able to identify Souverneva by her U.S. passport and a prior police booking photo.

Alexander asked Souverneva to empty her pockets and fanny pack, which contained CO2 cartridges, a cigarette lighter and an item "containing a green, leafy substance she admitted to smoking that day," according to the officer's filing.

At that point, Souverneva was arrested and taken to Shasta County Jail, where she was booked on the arson to forestland charges, according to the court filing.

On the same day the Fawn Fire started, workers at JF Shea Quarry had reported seeing a woman discard two small CO2 cartridges that matched the ones that were later found in Souverneva's fanny pack, Alexander's narrative said.

Evidence into ignition sources gathered during the investigation at the fire scene's origin area led authorities to "believe the suspect was there," Cal Fire Battalion Chief J.T. Zulliger said at the Friday press conference.

Asked where she was on Sept. 21, Souverneva told Alexander that she had been at the Shasta County Jail, was released about 4 p.m. and walked north to an area surrounded by vegetation.

A vegetation fire was reported that night in Shasta Lake, Alexander's report said.

"It is my opinion there is a high possibility she is responsible for the vegetation fire in Shasta Lake City the previous evening," Alexander wrote. "It is my experience that arsonists ... will light multiple fires in a short timeframe."
New York Post
written by Lee Brown
Monday September 27, 2021

A California “shaman” charged with starting a wildfire that is threatening thousands of homes claimed it started by accident — while she was boiling bear urine to drink, according to local reports.

Alexandra Souverneva, 30, faces up to nine years in prison for allegedly sparking the Fawn Fire, which has destroyed 41 homes and 90 smaller structures and is threatening 2,340 others, officials have said. She has pleaded not guilty.

She is now being eyed for possibly starting other fires across the Golden State, according to the Redding Record-Searchlight.

As the fire in Shasta County raged on Wednesday, Souverneva claimed she’d been hiking and trying to get to Canada, according to documents obtained by the outlet.

She told forest officials that she was thirsty and had come across a puddle of what she believed to be bear urine — and tried to make a fire to boil it, according to documents obtained by the outlet.

She found it was “too wet for the fire to start,” so she downed the water that she thought was animal urine and continued on her way, the report said.

Souverneva eventually got trapped in the brush amid the inferno and had to call the fire department to help her, according to the report.

She was asked to empty her pockets and fanny pack — which had CO2 cartridges, a cigarette lighter and an item “containing a green, leafy substance she admitted to smoking that day,” according to Cal Fire officer Matt Alexander.

Workers at a nearby quarry reported seeing a woman toss two small CO2 cartridges that matched the ones found in her bag on the same day the Fawn Fire ignited, Alexander said in court documents.

On her LinkedIn, Souverneva lists “shaman” as her current occupation and indicates that she was a doctoral student at SUNY’s New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry.

An attorney for Souverneva told her initial court hearing that she’d made statements to law enforcement that indicated a possible mental health crisis “or something to do with drug abuse.”

“She is also under suspicion for starting other fires,” said the attorney, who was not identified by the paper.

Alexander said in a report that “there is a high possibility she is responsible” for a fire the previous evening, too.

“It is my experience that arsonists … will light multiple fires in a short timeframe,” Alexander said, according to the paper.

At a press conference, Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie Bridgett said Souverneva had contact with law enforcement in connection to arson “in our county and other counties as well” but did not elaborate.

Shasta County Sheriff Michael L. Johnson broke news of the arrest to angry residents who’d been displaced or had their homes destroyed, the Mercury News said.

“It is difficult to grasp when disaster like this is, apparently, not a natural disaster. But we have a suspect,” Johnson told them.

UPDATE 10/2/21 at 2:46pm: Added info below.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 2:29 PM

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