Juvenile gets 15 days in Felida fireworks blaze

A 16-year-old boy was sentenced Monday to 15 days of detention and 168 hours of community service for his role in a fireworks blaze that destroyed a Felida home.

In an agreement with prosecutors, Nicholas E. McRaney, 16, of Vancouver, pleaded guilty in Clark County Juvenile Court to first-degree reckless burning. In exchange, Deputy Prosecutor Abbie Bartlett dismissed a charge of first-degree arson.

McRaney, a wrestler at Columbia River High School, along with co-defendant Andrew A. Perez-Garcia, 18, of Vancouver, had been accused of placing a fireworks device on the front lawn of the house and aiming it at a bush near the structure on July 4th. The bush caught on fire and spread to the eaves, attic and roof of the structure, Bartlett said. The fire destroyed the ranch-style home at 100 N.W. 108th St.

“It was a huge loss,” Bartlett said. “Some things can never be replaced.”

Renters at the home were displaced. The house’s owners, Corley and Nancy Woolridge, said Monday that they now are rebuilding the structure at a cost of about $330,000. The couple bought the home in 1977 and have lived in it off and on.

“It is a long-term home for us that we planned to retire in,” Corley Woolridge said.

McRaney’s attorney, Steven Thayer, said witness accounts indicate that Perez-Garcia was responsible for aiming the fireworks in the direction of the house and setting off the device. McRaney’s role involved giving the fireworks to Perez-Garcia, Thayer said.

McRaney “would have accountability as an accomplice because he provided the fireworks with the intent that it be burnt,” the defense attorney said. However, he said McRaney, who has no previous criminal history, had no intention of starting a house fire.

In addition to detention and community service, Commissioner Dayann Liebman sentenced McRaney to 12 months of probation.

Perez-Garcia is scheduled to be tried Jan. 12 on a charge of first-degree arson.

Bartlett said the cake-like fireworks device had 16 explosives and shot balls of flame.