Scott Carrier, an environmentalist author and left-wing media personality who compared members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Taliban in his book “Prisoner of Zion,” has been charged with several counts including reckless burning, abandoned fire and causing catastrophe in relation to starting the Deer Creek Fire on July 10.
~Editor~
On October 2, 2025, San Juan County Sheriff, Lehi Lacy, revealed that 68-year-old Scott Carrier had been charged with igniting the Deer Creek Fire on July 10, 2025 which devastated nearly 18,000 acres in the southeastern area of the La Sal Mountains. The fire spawned the infamous “firenado,” ravaged numerous homes, rental cabins and other structures, and ultimately racked up over $24 million in suppression costs, not counting the millions of dollars lost by residents in destroyed homes and property. Thousands of acres of forest and brushlands were destroyed along with countless wildlife.
The July inferno which started on Carrier’s property in Old La Sal forced evacuations, threatened homes, and blanketed the region in smoke, but investigators say it all began with a simple – and illegal – burn pile near Carrier’s house on Porcupine Lane. According to a San Juan County Sheriff’s Office indictment filed in the Seventh Judicial District Court, Carrier recklessly started a fire in a pile of sagebrush and debris on his property, then abandoned it unattended during active Stage 1 fire restrictions. Flames escaped the pile, fueled by dry winds and tinderbox conditions, and rapidly ballooned into one of the summer’s most destructive wildfires.
When confronted by investigators, Carrier initially denied involvement, claiming the charred brush had been burned harmlessly during the previous winter. He even floated wild theories – lightning strikes or sabotage by a feuding neighbor – to deflect blame, despite evidence pointing to his own activities. A search warrant turned up a freshly burned pile which smelled of accelerants, singed paper towels matching a roll inside Carrier’s camp trailer, a discarded lighter, and cans of lighter fluid and gasoline.
The probable cause statement says, “Based on the investigation, there is probable cause to believe the fire originated on the property owned by Scott Carrier.” Carrier’s partner reportedly pointed fingers toward the property but deferred questions to him; officers later found Carrier hosing down a still-smoking mound of dirt behind his partially-completed house. The misdemeanor charges reveal negligence bordering on catastrophe: reckless burning (Class A), abandoning a fire (Class A), causing a catastrophe recklessly (Class A), and violating fire restrictions in a closed area (Class B). If convicted, Carrier could face up to a year in jail per count, plus fines.
He expressed “regret and responsibility” for the fire’s origin during interviews but stuck to his story of uncertainty, which is one reason the investigation has taken months to complete. Carrier, a Salt Lake City resident and former assistant professor at Utah Valley University, has long been a champion of left-wing causes and anti-Mormon propaganda. In his book “Prisoner of Zion,” Carrier compares the Taliban’s rigid theocracy in Afghanistan to the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is reportedly responsible for the term “Mormon Taliban,” used to defame and condemn both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the organization itself.
Carrier’s orbit tilts decisively left, with bylines in progressive publications like Mother Jones, HuffPost, and High Country News – outlets known for publishing left-wing environmentalist talking points. He is also associated Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), an environmental group which receives the bulk of its funding from foreign billionaires and global foundations. Despite intense local opposition to the establishment of the Bears Ears National Monument, Carrier created written and audio content in its favor.
At the time he allegedly started the Deer Creek Fire, Carrier was in the process of building a house in the town of Old La Sal, Utah, which ironically, has a large population of active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most private property owners who lost houses, structures, grazing lands and other resources in the fire are also members of the “Mormon” Church, although there is no evidence that Carrier started the fire with the intention of harming his neighbors.
The date of Carrier’s trial is to be determined.
