A Montrose County man set bucktail fire while cremating his dog, police say

According to the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office, a 63-year-old Western Slope man was arrested on suspicion of arson and trespassing after he allegedly started a wildfire while attempting to cremate his dog.

The Bucktail Fire broke out north of Nucla on August 1 and burned for more than a week across 7,200 acres of private and state forest land, destroying a home before firefighters could achieve significant containment.

According to an affidavit, Brent Scott Garber was first identified as a suspect after a Montrose County Sheriff’s Office chief recognized him as he drove away from the fire on an all-terrain vehicle just minutes after the report was made. Garber’s arrest was first reported by the Montrose Daily Press.

The commander later met with state fire investigators at the fire’s starting point and found an excavated cave, the partially burned body of a dog and a large stone inscribed “Oct. It has “2017, July 2024, Rocket Dog, Rest in Peace Buddy” engraved on it, with a glued-on bone underneath.

Rocket was Garber’s dog and was euthanized by Nucla city officials on a judge’s order because Rocket got into a fight with another dog, according to the affidavit.

Garber lived in a mobile home near the fire, and witnesses later told investigators that Garber accidentally told them that he started the fire after a spray can he had thrown into it flew out of the pit and set a tree on fire.

Sheriff’s officials estimated the fire caused more than $300,000 in damages, according to the affidavit.

Garber was released from jail and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

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Originally published: September 24, 2024 at 4:55 p.m