Document text
CAVE JUNCTION — Last Saturday's Krauss Lane fire started next to a road leading to the log deck at Rough & Ready lumber mill, but fire officials are not releasing the cause yet. Chuck Miller, Oregon Department of Forestry fire investigator, said on Thursday that he knew the cause, but per ODF policy wasn't revealing it. "At this point that's all I can say," Miller told the Daily Courier. "I couldn't tell you if I knew," added Rick Dryer, Grants Pass Unit forester for the ODF. On Thursday, Jason Bayless, spokesman for Illinois Valley Fire District, confirmed where the fire started, an area with concrete junk, a couple of old trailers and steel tanks. It swept across Krauss Lane and threatened 125 homes before a massive attack stopped it at 53 acres. Six helicopters, three air tankers and fire engines from all over the Rogue Valley participated. Bayless was on the scene during the fire and the ensuing investigation. Rough & Ready co-owner Jennifer Phillippi said people were working at the mill when the fire started, including log truck drivers, but she did not know what started it. "We don't think we did anything," Phillippi said, adding, "We have good procedures, good fire safety, we water the roads." ODF typically does not release causes of wildfires, other than saying they are human- or lightning-caused, on the grounds that doing so may jeopardize efforts by the state to recover costs. The estimated cost of fighting the fire was about $1 million, according to ODF. In a related development that stands in contrast to ODF policy, the Douglas Forest Protective Association officially announced Thursday that the Stouts fire east of Canyonville was caused by someone mowing grass. The county agency did not identify the person but said the person could be held liable for fire suppression costs, as lawn mowing was restricted at the time the fire started. The cost of fighting that fire, one of several in the region that have been plaguing Grants Pass with smoke for days now, was last estimated at over $22 million. The fire has burned more than 24,180 acres. Jeff Bonebrake, investigation and cost recovery coordinator for ODF, said the state is required to recover costs if a fire was caused by negligence or willful or malicious actions. He said that in order to not compromise a case against a potentially liable party, the state Department of Justice may recommend fire officials not release specific information. "There are certain things we're trying to protect," he explained, adding, "I know it's frustrating. We're trying to do a really good job protecting the assets of the taxpayers and landowners." Bonebrake said the state recovers an average of about $1.2 million a year the past decade, but "this year it's substantially more." A chunk of that — in the "several hundred thousand dollar range," Bonebrake said — came from the Pacifica Fire in the Williams Valley in 2013. That was settled this year with Pacifica, the nature and education center, Bonebrake said. That $855,000 fire started during a sweat lodge ceremony on the property, which included smoldering rocks. It burned 500 acres and torched three outbuildings including shops and tools of one of two landowners who sued Pacifica. Bonebrake said the ODF is successful in recovering costs in 60 to 70 percent of fires it investigates, and a significant number are escaped burn piles. In the case of the Krauss Lane fire, the agency has some help with costs. A day after the fire the Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized a federal grant that would allow funding for 75 percent of the firefighting costs in the fire. Reach reporter Jeff Duewel at 541-474-3720 or [email protected].