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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend April 25, 2006 Criminal charges result from fire A reveler who set fire to eight piles of debris left by winter flooding along the banks of the Rogue River will face criminal charges and a bill for fighting the fires, officials said. The string of fires was reported shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday in the Denman Wildlife area at the end of Tou Velle Road, a dirt road leading from Modoc Road to the river. Jackson County Fire District No. 3 and the Oregon Department of Forestry sent five fire trucks, including all-wheel-drive vehicles designed to fight grass fires. Crews spent about two hours battling the fires, which dotted about an acre between the river and nearby gravel bars, District 3 deputy fire marshal Don Hickman said. Three of the fires were next to blackberry patches that offered a chance for the flames to run wild, but none of the fires spread. Firefighters returned to check the area about midnight and continued to monitor the blackened debris piles for hot spots Monday morning. Oregon State Police cited Josh R. Nikodym, 22, of the 1700 block of Wagon Trail Drive, Jacksonville, on charges of reckless burning and criminal mischief after he admitted to officers that he had lit fires after drinking in the wildlife area with friends. Other young adults in the group denied knowing about the fires or Nikodym, although officers later found out some of them were related to him, police reports said. Advertisement Hickman said the fire district will calculate the cost of fighting the fires and attempt to recover it from anyone found responsible for the blazes. He estimated the cost would be more than $1,000. "It's still fairly wet, but if this fire would have started in a few months, it would have been a problem," he said. The Denman fire was the second of the evening. A fire at the end of Sardine Creek near Wilcox Peak was reported about 6:30 p.m. "It was a shock to us to see these," said Greg Alexander, a forester with the Medford unit of the Oregon Department of Forestry. The Sardine Creek fire burned about an acre and a half before crews brought it under control. State crews continued building a line around it and mopping up hot spots Monday, Alexander said. Investigators are probing for a possible cause. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers Southern Oregon Loans California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisement s