Selah Man Sentenced for String of Arson and Firearm Charges

A 34-year old Selah man was sentenced to 240 months in prison for 5 counts of federal arson and felon in possession of a firearm. He was also ordered to pay $1,010, 343.44 in restitution for costs and damages assessed.

Serial Arsonist Zachary Tyler Vantuyl Was Seen at Several Suspicious Wildfires

After investigating a series of wildfires set in 2023 and 2024, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) identified a 2022 Chevrolet Silverado pickup and Vantuyl at wildfires set in September of 2024.

Specifically, on September 3, 2024, at approximately 1:00AM, a witness described to federal fire investigators having heard a vehicle and heard tires “peeling out” near the witness’s residence as the vehicle left the area. Within a few moments of the sound, the witness saw flames and embers in the area where the vehicle was stopped.

Vantuyl Set Additional Fires on Private Property in White Swan

While living on the property of his former landlord, Vantuyl was hired to care for the land owner’s horses, and take care of farm chores. Vantuyl lived on the farm for approximately two years, and during that time, set multiple fires on the property. According to a news release from the US Department of Justice:

The victim wrote: “I came to know him very well and began to see patterns that led me to believe he was the arsonist that set over a dozen fires on and near our farm. Even more disturbing and dangerous is his insidious and vindictive nature that led him to kill five of our dogs and abuse and shoot our horses.”

The Defendant Was Sentenced Years Ago for Setting Several Fires

In 2012, Vantuyl was convicted of two counts of Arson in the First Degree and three counts of Arson in the Second Degree in Kittitas County Superior Court for five fires he started in April, May, and June 2012 in Ellensburg.

Read more of the press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Washington.

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

Gallery Credit: KATELYN LEBOFF

LOOK: The most extreme temperatures in the history of every state

Stacker consulted 2021 data from the NOAA’s State Climate Extremes Committee (SCEC) to illustrate the hottest and coldest temperatures ever recorded in each state. Each slide also reveals the all-time highest 24-hour precipitation record and all-time highest 24-hour snowfall.

Keep reading to find out individual state records in alphabetical order.

Gallery Credit: Anuradha Varanasi

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