A woman may have started a California wildfire after boiling bear urine to drink. The fire started Wednesday and by Friday had burned more than 5,850 acres.
A “shaman” accused of starting a wildfire by boiling bear urine to drink it
Alexandra Souverneva, whose occupation is “shaman,” was charged with arson last week for allegedly starting the Fawn Fire in Shasta County.
The fire started Wednesday and by Friday had burned more than 5,850 acres, according to the LA Times.
Souverneva faces felony arson and an expanded charge of arson during a state of emergency, which together could mean up to nine years in prison. She has pleaded not guilty.
Authorities said they saw a woman trespassing and “acting unreasonably” on a remote property near where the fire started Wednesday.
The 30-year-old woman, who is reportedly a doctoral student at SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry, said she was hiking in California, hoping to get to Canada, when she became thirsty.
When Sourverneva saw a huge puddle of liquid on the ground, she thought it was bear urine and tried to make a fire to boil it.
The area was too wet to light the fire, so she drank the liquid and kept walking, according to the NY Post.
Sourverneva was going uphill when she got stuck in the brush and saw smoke and planes “throwing pink stuff.” She contacted the fire department for help.
An officer asked her to open her fanny pack and pockets, and found CO2 cartridges, a lighter and an object “containing a green, leafy substance that she admitted to smoking that day.”
Souverneva’s lawyer said Sourverneva made statements indicating a mental health crisis or “something related to substance abuse.”
