Alexandra Souverneva: Shaman started 8,500 acre Fawn Fire while boiling bear urine
SHASTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: The Shasta County District Attorney has announced charges against the woman responsible for starting the Fawn Fire on September 22. According to DA Stephanie Bridgett, 30-year-old Alexandra Souverneva has been charged with felony arson to wildland, which carries a sentence of up to nine years if found guilty. Reportedly, Souverneva started the wildfire after she attempted to boil bear urine, so she could drink it.
With climate change, wildfires in the eastern US have become increasingly deadly, and hard to control. In early August, the River Fire in Nevada and Placer County in California forced thousands of evacuations, as firefighters struggled to contain the blaze. While many have been sparked due to the extreme heat, a number of fires have also been sparked by human activity. In July, Refugio Manuel Jimenez Jr and Angela Renee Jimenez were charged for sparking the El Dorado wildfire with their gender reveal party.
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The Fawn Fire that Souverneva started reportedly damaged 41 homes, and 90 "other structures". Officials are still battling the blaze, which has led to thousands being evacuated around Shasta Lake. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the blaze is now 45% contained, after spreading over 8,559 acres. As of September 26, crews have a "line around the fire", and hopefully should have it contained by the end of the week.
Who is Alexandra Souverneva?
The shaman and yoga instructor responsible for the Fawn Fire has quite an interesting biography. She reportedly graduated from the California Institute of Technology, before working as a scientist in the Bay Area. A LinkedIn profile in her name notes that she graduated in 2012 with a B.S. in chemistry and biology, which led her to pursue a Ph.D. from the State University of New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry. She completed her research in 2015 and then took up a job as a research associate.
Between 2016 and 2019, Souverneva worked for Nanosyn and Gilead in Santa Clara and Foster City respectively. In February 2020, she took up a tutoring role with AJ tutoring in Palo Alto, but quit that gig in May 2020. It's unclear what exactly she has been up to since. She got a license as a yoga teacher in February 2020, and her LinkedIn bio has her listed as "shaman", but no further explanation was available.
It's unclear where Souverneva currently lives, and what she does. One report indicated she also had gigs as a scuba diver instructor, piano teacher, and camp counselor. She's also registered as a Green Party voter, with a criminal record. In 2015 and 2017, she was reportedly arrested on misdemeanor charges, but we could not confirm what exactly those charges were. One arrest reportedly occurred in Oregon for criminal trespass, according to local journalist Dylan Brown. "We are aware there are possible additional fires here in our county that she may be linked to as well as other charges in other fires statewide," noted DA Stephanie Bridgett. "That is still an ongoing investigation," she added.
Fawn Fire started by boiling urine
According to a Cal fire press release, Souverneva was taken into custody after she was spotted "trespassing and acting irrationally" at a remote canyon in Redding. At around 8 pm, as firefighters were battling the blaze, she walked out of the forest and said she was "dehydrated and needed medical treatment". She was then interviewed by Cal fire where she confirmed she was responsible for starting the fire.
Reportedly, she claimed she had been thirsty whilst out hiking and found a puddle of bear urine. Initially, she tried purifying the urine using a teabag, but that failed. So, she then started a fire to boil the urine so she could drink it but was unable to do so. Officials found a lighter on her and subsequently charged her with arson. She is also facing a second charge of obstruction, according to county records. There's also the threat of an enhancement during conviction, because of California's current state of emergency SF Gate reported.
During her arraignment at the Shasta County Superior Court, Souverneva pleaded not guilty. She's now being held at the Shasta County Jail and faces up to nine years if convicted. At the hearing, her public defender noted that she had made statements to law enforcement, indicating a mental health issue or "or something to do with drug abuse." At the time of reporting, she is being held on a $100,000 bail after her arrest on September 23.