A Palo Alto woman accused of starting a destructive Northern California wildfire when she tried to boil bear urine has been deemed unfit to stand trial.
Shasta County Superior Court Judge Adam Ryan on Tuesday ruled 30-year-old Alexandra Souverneva is mentally incompetent and will be "evaluated for placement" transfer to a state-run mental health hospital, a Shasta County District Attorney's Office spokesperson told KCBS Radio.
Souverneva entered a not guilty plea to a felony arson charge in September.
Her attorney, Gregg Cohen, "declared a doubt as to the competence of the defendant" at a preliminary hearing on Oct. 5. The court then appointed two psychologists to evaluate Souverneva to determine her mental fitness.
Those evaluations led to Tuesday's ruling.
The Fawn Fire – which started on Sept. 22 – burned over 8,500 acres, destroyed 185 homes and commercial buildings, damaged 26 others and resulted in three injuries.
Investigators believe Souverneva ignited the fire when she attempted to boil bear urine so she could drink it while trying to hike to Canada. Souverneva continued on her hike until she saw smoke and airplanes "dropping pink stuff," as reported by the Redding Record Searchlight.
Souverneva, a yoga and scuba instructor, is a graduate of The California Institute of Technology and self-proclaimed shaman. The Mercury News reported Souverneva has also worked as a research associate at Gilead Sciences in Foster City and Nanosyn in Santa Clara.
Souverneva faces up to nine years in prison if convicted.
She's due back in court on Dec. 9 following a hospital placement evaluation.
Meanwhile, CAL FIRE officials are investigating her possible links to other fires in the region or state, but have not yet announced charges.
KCBS Radio has reached out to Cohen's office for comment but has not yet heard back.
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