A former Utah Highway Patrol officer — already charged with arson in state court for intentionally starting a wildfire in northeastern Utah this summer — was federally indicted this week with purposefully starting another blaze in the area.
The latest case against Rex Richard Olsen, 37, of Roosevelt, alleges that on May 30, he started a fire on Bureau of Land Management land about 20 miles southeast of Vernal.
The blaze burned nearly 2,500 acres of brush, took four days to contain and temporarily shut down U.S. Highway 40.
In August, Olsen was charged in 8th District Court with second-degree felony arson for allegedly starting another fire, this one on June 9 near the town of Maeser, which is east of Vernal.