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Year-old arson at timber firm still mystifies Fire was just bump in road for company By DAVID PRESZLER A year after its offices were torched by arsonists, U.S. Forest Industries has settled nicely into its new home in downtown Medford. "We intend to stay here," company President Jerry Bramwell says of the leased offices at West Main and Grape streets. "It never did cause any interruption in the continuity of our business," Bramwell adds. "We were inconvenienced, but that's it." It was a year ago today that U.S. Forest Industries' headquarters at 2611 Whittle Ave. were destroyed. Investigators haven't made any arrests and won't say much about claims of responsibility made by an environmental group called the Earth Liberation Front or ELF. "It was a set fire," says Medford police Lt. Tim George. "As far as who is criminally responsible, we don't have any suspect information can give you and we are still looking for information." George says the Medford police have spent 150-200 hours working the case along with the Medford Fire Department, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Oregon State Police. ELF, an offshoot of Earth First! believed to be responsible for several eco-terrorist attacks, claimed the firebombing was retribution for the firm's southern Colorado logging. Investigators won't say whether they have confirmed ELF's claim that it used buckets of diesel and gasoline to torch the building. "They seem to be somewhat specific as to how that fire was set," George says. "It certainly hasn't led us to the suspect or suspects that lit the fire. "We have not identified any particular individual from ELF or any group of individuals from ELF." For his part, Bramwell says he doesn't have a feel for who's really responsible. "Certainly, the Earth Liberation Front took credit for it," he says. "Whether they did it, I don't know." Bramwell says his company hasn't had unusual difficulties with environmental groups since the blaze. "It's been quiet," he says. The downtown offices are about 6,500 square feet, very close to the same size as the firm's former headquarters. U.S. Forest Industries, which is privately owned, has manufacturing plants, one in White City, one in Grants Pass, one in Colorado and one in Florida. It also has a small operation in Albany, Ore. It employs about 550 people, including 14 at the headquarters. Bramwell says the company has settled its insurance claim on the fire and moved on. "It's business as usual." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA