Document text
No fines in fatal logging fire Safety violations cited in incident that killed owner By CHRIS BRISTOL SALEM -- A logging company has been cited for several safety violations that led to the death of a Gold Hill man, but no fines were issued because the victim was the owner of the company. The case involved Brian Spilka, who was electrocuted Aug. 23 in a logging accident near Lost Creek Lake that also sparked a six-acre wildfire. The incident made headlines last month when the state Department of Forestry sued Spilka's widow for more than $55,000 in firefighting costs. According to a report that was released Tuesday, the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division cited Spilka's company, Lowrider Reforestation, for five violations. All five violations were classified as serious. Two of the violations concerned safety around powerlines. One alleged that Lowrider employees routinely felled trees too closely to each other. The other two were training-related. Spilka, 45, was killed almost instantly and two employees were badly jolted in the accident, which occurred when Spilka tried to dislodge a felled tree that got hung up on a 115,000-volt Pacific Power line, officials said. The agency said the fire was caused when Spilka's chainsaw exploded when Spilka made contact with the tree. A chainsaw belonging to one of the employees who was hurt also caught fire, the report said. The agency could have fined Lowrider Reforestation up to $5,000 per violation. But officials decided it would be pointless because Spilka was the sole proprietor of the company. "The company is being dissolved," OR-OSHA spokeswoman Jani Johnston said Tuesday. "It served no purpose to (issue fines) because the employing entity no longer existed." Such was not the case last month, when the forestry department sued Dawn Spilka for the costs of putting out the fire caused by the accident. State forestry officials insisted that they had no discretion in the matter under Oregon law and that it was always their expectation that Spilka's business insurance would cover the bill. They have since confirmed that Lowrider was bonded. Johnston said OR-OSHA has investigated accidents before that resulted in the death of the employer. "We have a certain amount of discretion in some instances, this being one of them," she said. The accident occurred on property belonging to Boise Cascade, which had hired Lowrider to thin a timber tract. Johnston said OR-OSHA investigated Boise Cascade but issued no citations. The accident was one of two back-to-back work-related electrocutions last summer. A week after Spilka was killed, Central Point public works employee Jason Menteer was electrocuted while trying to repair a leaky water line. OR-OSHA fined the city $11,100 for alleged safety violations in connection with the Menteer accident. The agency also fined Pacific Power $2,500 for disturbing the scene before investigators arrived. Both sides have blames each other for causing the accident, and both are appealing the citations. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA