Utah mountain fire started after man allegedly tried to burn spider with lighter: 'It was reckless to do what he was doing in the way he was doing it'



A fire broke out in Springville, Utah, about an hour southeast of Salt Lake City, after a man supposedly tried to light a spider on fire.

Police say that around 4:43 p.m. local time on Monday, they received a call about "a mountainside fire." When they arrived on the scene at around 5 p.m., they spotted a man walking his dog near where the fire was started.

When officials from the Utah County Sheriff's Office approached 26-year-old Cory Allan Martin, he supposedly admitted to them that he'd accidentally sparked some brush when he was trying to light a spider on fire with a lighter.

The small brush fire then spread quickly and covered about 60 acres. Two helicopters, one of which carried water from an area reservoir, attempted to battle the flames from the air, while fire fighters attempted to douse them from the ground.

Luckily, around 9 p.m., a strong storm moved into the area, helping fire personnel bring the blaze under control. As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire is reported to be 90 percent contained.

Meanwhile, authorities are still puzzled about why someone would try to light a spider on fire.

“Not sure exactly why he felt the need to have to burn the spider,” Sgt. Spencer Cannon said. “But you know, all the regret in the world doesn’t change the outcome based on whatever reason there was for him doing that.”

“In this case, his actions were more than, ‘Oops, I accidentally started a fire,’” Cannon continued. “It was reckless to do what he was doing in the way he was doing it.”

“I’m not sure why he felt the need to burn the spider,” Cannon repeated once again.

Even Governor Spencer Cox weighed in on the arrest. "Um, don’t do drugs kids (and don’t start spiders on fire during a drought)," he tweeted on Monday night.

When they arrested Martin, police supposedly found marijuana and drug paraphernalia in his possession. He has been booked in the Utah County Jail and charged with drug possession and reckless burning. In the state of Utah, reckless burning carries a possible sentence of a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, no one was injured in the fire and no structures were threatened by it.

Pacific Islander advocate fighting for her life after contracting flesh-eating bacteria from 15 spider bites



A Utah woman is currently in a hospital fighting for her life after she contracted a flesh-eating bacteria from a series of spider bites she got while on a recent fishing trip.

Susi Feltch-Malohifo'ou, a 59-year-old woman and a nationally recognized advocate for the Pacific Islander community, recently went on a fishing trip to Mirror Lake, about an hour and a half east of Salt Lake City. Shortly after she returned, she became ill.

"When she woke up Sunday morning, she had a headache, a fever, and was in some pain," her son, Adrian Swensen, told reporters. "Those symptoms progressed to the point that we decided she needed to see her doctor."

At the hospital, Feltch-Malohifo'ou tested negative for COVID and the flu, so doctors gave her two shots and some prescription medicine and sent her home.

But she grew worse.

When Feltch-Malohifo'ou returned to the hospital a second time, doctors discovered that she had 15 spider bites on her body and that at least seven of them had become infected with a flesh-eating bacteria. Because of the damage caused by the bacteria, doctors now believe she is suffering from a condition known as necrotizing fasciitis.

According to the CDC, necrotizing fasciitis occurs when certain bacteria destroy tissue at a rapid pace. If not diagnosed quickly, necrotizing fasciitis can lead to sepsis, shock, and organ failure. Though antibiotics are often administered as quickly as possible once a diagnosis has been made, antibiotics may not be able to contain an infection if the damage has already become too severe.

In instances in which antibiotics are no longer effective, doctors must surgically remove the dead tissue. Such is the case for Feltch-Malohifo'ou. Thus far, she has already undergone six surgeries and has had over 10 pounds of dead tissue removed. And she likely has more procedures in her future, according to the GoFundMe account established to help defray her medical expenses.

"She is very sick," Swensen said. "We are told that if they can get her stable and through all of the removal and cleaning, she will have a very long road of recovery.

"We are people of faith and are in constant prayer that she will be healed and in a timely manner."

Feltch-Malohifo'ou runs a nonprofit called Pacific Islander Knowledge to Action Resources, which aims to highlight the economic impact that Pacific Islanders have in America, to prevent violence in the community, and to preserve Pacific Islander culture. As a result of her activism, Feltch-Malohifo'ou won the FBI's Director's Community Leadership Award for Utah in 2018 and was listed on the Forbes "50 over 50" list of 2021.