Serial Arsonist Gets 20 Years for String of Fires in Yakima River Canyon
A reckless and dangerous suspect, according to Federal prosecutors, will spend far longer in prison than the standard arson guidelines provide, due to a Judge's ruling.
Yakima Canyon Arsonist Gets 20 Years
The Bureau of Land Management announced this week, the sentencing in late May of a 34-year-old man who was linked to at least six fires, five of them on Federal lands, in the Yakima Canyon Area, and others near White Swan and even Selah.
Federal Officials said Zachary Tyler Vantuyl was given an extraordinary sentence by the Federal judge, due to the nature of his crimes, and their violent nature.
Between 2023 and 2024, he set a number of fires that BLM agents quickly determined were similar, and not accidents. Despite dogged patrolling and other search efforts they were not able to establish a suspect until a witness spotted Vantuyl's truck leaving the scene of where one of the blazes began. Then surveillance cameras and another witness reported a truck matching the original, near other fire scene.
The Suspect Told One Witness He Worked for DNR
He told one witness at one of the fire scenes he worked for the Department of Natural Resources, when he was questioned about suspicious activity. A Flock camera captured an image of his truck in Selah in 2024, and as other evidence was gathered, it became apparent that he was the culprit.
In October of 2024, agents served search warrants at his home, and not only found illegally-possesed high powered firearms (he is a convicted felon) but also evidence direcdtly linking him to the fires.
In addition to the 20 years in prison, he faces well over $1 million in fines and restitution.
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