Hayman fire still burns for those who lost something

Terry Barton may want people affected by the Hayman fire to "get on with their lives," but it's hard when all some see is a sea of black stumps out their front door.

Or if their dreams of retiring in the mountains went up in smoke almost six years ago.

Or if they lost their home, with a lifetime of memories inside.

Several people Friday reacted to the news that Barton, 44, was resentenced and will be getting out of prison this summer. She will be on probation through 2018 and required to perform 1,500 hours of community service in the counties torched by Colorado's worst wildfire.

Her original 12-year state sentence was thrown out, and her six-year federal sentence will be completed in June.

"She destroyed my life and destroyed my dreams," said John Hill, 52, now of Fountain. Hill used to live about 13 miles north of Divide until the 2002 fire tore through his property.

Dorothy Furtak, 68, wistfully remembers the days when she could take a cup of coffee out to her porch and watch the green forest sway in the breeze for miles.

"No matter where you look from our house, it's black tree trunks," said Furtak, who lives with her husband, Dick, off Colorado Highway 67 between Woodland Park and Divide. "We'll never recover. It's just a sea of black, charred trunks."

Edith Mae Stump, 56, lost the Sedalia-area home she's lived in all her life.

"I have some mixed feelings about it," Stump said of Barton's sentence. "She should be required to do more community service than 1,500 hours. The probation is OK. She should have done that to start with rather than prison sentencing.. . . In the long run, it was her kids that suffered."

Dorothy Furtak said she believes Barton should be required to work in the burned areas of Teller, Park, Douglas and Jefferson counties clearing out blackened stumps.

No one thought she will ever be able to pay back the more than $30 million restitution prosecutors will ask for within 90 days.

"I can't imagine anyone being forgiving," Dorothy Furtak said. "Everyone wants severe punishment for her - money-wise and work-wise."

"She needs to not only put the forest back together, she needs to put our lives back together," Hill said. "She needs to plant trees on our property and rebuild some of the stuff we lost."

Hill had moved to his mountain property to get away from crime and hectic city life. The fire, though it didn't destroy his house, ruined all his furniture, his 1977 Ford truck and all the trees on his property.

He said the smoke and heat affected his health and he now gets altitude sickness, forcing him to move back to the city.

"I feel she needs to stay here in Colorado," Hill said. "If she wants us to bring this to an end, then we need help."

Barton's attorney asked if she could have her probation transferred to California so she could live with her children. Fourth Judicial District Judge Thomas Kennedy said "no," but said that she could ask later.

Barton will be required to report for probation in El Paso County within seven days after she's released in June.

Dick Furtak lost his tool shed with 42 years' worth of tools. The Furtaks also lost their barn, with mounted trophy animals that could never be replaced.

"Six years prison was not enough," Dick Furtak said. "Because what she did was on purpose."

"She should do that community service for the rest of her life," Dorothy Furtak said.

Stump said she's no longer angry with Barton.

"She was just really stupid," Stump said.

For others, the anger burns every time they see the evidence of Barton's actions.

Barton was a U.S. Forest Service worker at the time. She admitted burning a letter from her estranged husband and accidently starting the fire that took more than month to put out and burned 215 square miles. June 8, 2002, was a redflag day, and Barton was supposed to be looking for people violating the burn ban.

"She ruined my life. Period." Hill said.

"I'm sorry, I can't do it," said Dick Furtak on the notion of forgiving Barton. "I can't explain to you how much this land means to me."

"When I come home from Woodland Park, the closer I get to home, the worse I feel," Dorothy Furtak said. "Anything we can get from her, we would go for it."