The man who was arrested for burning toilet paper near the reported start of the Pipeline
Fire, had one of his counts dropped against him in federal court. Prosecutors agreed to drop
the misdemeanor marijuana charge against 57-year-old Matthew Riser, however the counts
of building a fire during restrictions and residing on the national forest, also misdemeanors,
remain active. Riser ignited toilet paper and placed it under a rock, several feet from a forest
road back on Saturday, June 11th. On that Sunday at around 10:30 a.m., the fire was
reportedly burning brush and trees. A man in a white Chevy pickup truck, with a camper shell
and Louisiana license plates, was seen driving quickly away from the fire. Court documents
say a deputy pulled over Riser on Highway 180. He told the officer he was camping in the area
and burned his used toilet paper Saturday, never thinking it would smolder all night.
