Transient sentenced for Evergreen fire

A transient man has been sentenced for stealing a car and accidentally burning down part of an Evergreen neighborhood in separate incidents last year.

Joseph DeVera, 43, was sentenced in Flathead Justice Court in mid-February to six months in jail, with all but 10 days suspended, for negligent criminal endangerment for accidentally starting a massive fire in Evergreen on Aug. 5, 2015. DeVera also was fined $1,085.

The fire burned 10 buildings and 6.5 acres in the middle of an Evergreen neighborhood. A massive firefighting effort was required to control the fire, which left one man burned on his shoulder. One elderly woman avoided injury by being pulled over a fence by law enforcement.

DeVera told investigators that the fire started after he knocked an ember from a cigarette to the ground. The ember rekindled a half-hour later and when DeVera attempted to put it out with a blanket, he accidentally fanned the flames and made them spread.

DeVera will be under state supervision for the next five years for a different crime.

For felony theft, he was sentenced to five years with the Montana Department of Corrections on Thursday by Flathead District Judge Robert Allison. That conviction resulted after DeVera stole a car on Aug. 16, 2015, from a home on U.S. 2 east of Kalispell. A suspected meth pipe was found in the vehicle.

At sentencing, DeVera said he was sorry for the theft.

“I understand that my family’s paying for this,” DeVera said.

He told the judge that he did not want to end up back in court again.

DeVera’s attorney Greg Rapkoch explained that there were some aggravating health issues, including schizophrenia, involved in DeVera’s conduct.

“I think there is a significant mental health concerns,” Rapkoch said.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.