Rotem Singer was twenty-three years old. He was travelling in the far south of Chile. At the end of December 2011, the police arrested him. They said he started a big fire in Torres del Paine National Park.
His father, Hezi Singer, spoke to Israeli military radio. He said his son could not have caused this disaster. He said Rotem was a kilometre away from the fire when his friends woke him up. The father said the Chilean authorities only wanted someone to blame.
The accusation was very small. Singer’s friends said he burned toilet paper after going to the bathroom, and he did not put the fire out completely. The regional prosecutor, Juan Meléndez, said the young man accepted some responsibility for the fire.
The fire was terrible. About 110 square kilometres of forest burned, and 400 tourists had to leave the park. More than 560 firefighters worked on the fire, and the government declared an emergency in the region.
Torres del Paine is in southern Chile. It has high rocks, glaciers and blue lakes. The park opened in 1959. It is famous for its strong wind, and the windiest months, from November to January, are also the busiest months for tourists.
That summer the whole south of the country was burning. More than 100 homes were destroyed, and one old man died because he did not leave his house. Tourists stayed away, and the local economy lost millions of dollars.
Singer said he was innocent. His grandfather, Gilad Harel, told an Israeli newspaper that Rotem was a responsible person.
The police arrested him on 31 December. He had to stay in Patagonia, and they took his passport.
In February a court in Puerto Natales ordered him to pay $10,000 to the government of Chile. He also had to do two years of community service for the Jewish National Fund. The fund agreed to help plant 50,000 new trees in the park. Then Singer continued his trip.