Douglas County Sheriff
September 29, 2021, 7:29 am*
Palo Alto scientist Alexandra Souverneva has some explaining to do. And not just about the fact that she’s a blonde, white woman who lists her current occupation as “shaman” on LinkedIn.
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On September 22, Souverneva was hiking to Canada. As she made her way through the Mountain Gate community, quarry employees told her that she was trespassing and had to leave. She ignored them and continued walking, but eventually she became thirsty.
Souverneva eventually happened upon a puddle in a dry creek bed. She wanted to drink the puddle, but believed it was contaminated with bear urine. She first tried to filter the water using a teabag, but that didn’t work. Souverneva then decided to make a fire to try to boil the liquid to sterilize it. Unfortunately, she eventually decided that the area was “too wet” for a fire to start, and drank the puddle unsterilized, ursine urine and all.
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According to the narrative Souverneva presented police, she fully abandoned her attempt at starting a blaze, and continued hiking uphill. It would appear that the fire did indeed start, however, one way or another—and it continued to grow as Souverneva walked away, becoming we now know as the Fawn Fire.
Souverneva eventually became stuck in a brushy area, and called the fire department for help. She was treated for dehydration. She then admitted to authorities that she had tried to start a fire in order to drink the puddle she’d found.
A working cigarette lighter, among other things, was found in her possession (to be fair, so was what appears to be pot, although she did not have rolling papers or other smoking accoutrement). She was also carrying CO2 cartridges. Upon this discovery, Souverneva was questioned by Cal Fire authorities and taken into custody.
On Friday, Souverneva pleaded not guilty to arson charges. If convicted, she faces up to nine years in prison. Shana Vegvary, Souverneva’s attorney, says that “no evidence has been presented to the contrary” regarding her innocence.
Meanwhile, prosecutor Stephanie Bridgett says that California authorities have potentially linked Souverneva to a number of other arson fires around the state. Bridgett declined to provide further details at this time. Souverneva was arrested in Oregon ten days prior, for criminal trespassing in the second degree. She was released the following day. She would then be arrested on Wednesday, September 22, on separate charges in California, in connection with the Fawn Fire.
The Fawn Fire has destroyed 41 homes and over 100 other structures. It has caused thousands of residents to be evacuated from their homes. At the time of this writing, the blaze is 65% contained. This progress, unfortunately, may be threatened by today’s high winds.
Souverneva has a B.S. degree from CalTech, where she double-majored in Biology and Chemistry; she went on to study as a PhD student at SUNY-EFS. She is also a certified yoga teacher. Given her obvious intelligence and scientific background, as well as her history of productivity (as opposed to, you know, arson), some people have raised the question of whether her behavior and narrative may be indicating a mental health crisis of some kind:
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It’s a fair and important question, especially because if Souverneva is struggling with severe mental health issues, she may not be responsible for her actions, even if she did start the fire. Despite her erratic behavior and bizarre narrative, however, authorities have stated definitively that Souverneva does not appear to have a substance abuse problem and does not appear to suffer from mental illness.
Twitter, naturally, is mostly here for the bear urine:
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And, of course, some pointed out that, between Souverneva and “QAnon Shaman” Jake Angeli, it might be best if misbehaving white people stop calling themselves shamans forever, full stop.
*First Published: September 29, 2021, 6:57 am
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