Lake County man responsible for Boulder 2700 Fire sentenced

HELENA – A Lake County man was sentenced Friday to 60 years in Montana State Prison with 30 years suspended and must pay over $1.2 million in restitution for two arson charges including the Boulder 2700 fire that destroyed homes, damaged property, and forced evacuations in Lake County during the summer of 2021, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced today.

In February, a Lake County jury found Craig Allen McCrea responsible for deliberately setting the Boulder 2700 fire near Finley Point in Lake County on July 31, 2021. As one of the most high-profile fires in the country at one point, the forest fire burned 2,589 acres of forest, destroyed 14 homes, 17 structures, and forced the evacuation of thousands of Lake County residents. McCrea is also responsible for starting the Finley Fire in Missoula County just north of Evaro Hill on July 25, 2021, which burned 18 acres.

Assistant Attorneys General Thorin Geist and Caitlin Creighton prosecuted the case with the assistance of Lake County Attorney James Lapotka. It was investigated by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.