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State sues widow for fire costs Photo by Drew Fleming Widow Dawn Spilka of Gold Hill is being held responsible by the state for more than $55,000 to cover fire containment costs from an August blaze that began when her husband was electrocuted in a logging accident. Husband electrocuted in logging accident By CHRIS BRISTOL GOLD HILL -- Four months ago today, Dawn Spilka was taking a nap with her 3-year-old daughter when two loggers who had been working at a job site with her husband came zooming up the driveway. "When I saw them, they were pale as sheets," she recounted Wednesday. "I thought, Oh no, Brian got hurt in a wreck or something. Or maybe he's accidentally cut his neck, because it's happened before, and he was using a chainsaw that day. "They said no, he went quick. I just screamed. I just went numb and screamed; called my dad to come get my daughter. Just flipped out for weeks. "I'm still flipping." The official cause of Brian Spilka's death was listed as electrocution. A tree hit a power line, and the 45-year-old logger, who operated Lowrider Reforestation and was working that day near Lost Creek Lake on contract for Boise Cascade, died almost instantly from a killing blast of voltage. Two employees were hurt. The Aug. 23 accident also sparked a small brush fire. The Oregon Department of Forestry quickly contained the blaze, giving it the name Ulrich Road #2 Fire. Then the bill came due. The forestry department demanded more than $55,000 from Spilka's estate to cover the cost of putting the fire out. Dawn Spilka refused to pay, so last week the state Department of Justice sued her. She still can't believe it. "I've been through so much, and then this happens," she said Wednesday from her Sardine Creek home near Gold Hill. "It's not my fault. Why should I have to pay for something I didn't do? It's a lot of money." At issue is a longstanding body of Oregon law that allows state agencies to demand reimbursement for the cost of putting out human-caused forest fires that threaten public lands. The policy dates back to the 1950s, and the Legislature tweaked the law as recently as 1997. Peter Norkeveck, a spokesman for the Department of Forestry in Salem, insisted Wednesday that state officials have no discretion under the law. "This is a `shall' situation, not a `may,' " he said. "Our laws say `shall.' Really, this is an obligation under the law to do this." According to Norkeveck, the forestry department fights up to 1,400 fires every year. Although the vast majority are sparked by lightning and other natural causes, roughly 10 percent on average are set by people, he said. The forestry department is responsible for fighting fires on more than 15 million acres in Oregon, including all federal lands west of the Cascades owned by the Bureau of Land Management, he said. Public and private property, much of it owned by the timber industry, dots the Oregon landscape like a checkerboard. Landowners pay the state for fire protection, called fire patrol assessments, and recovery costs are returned directly to local accounts. "If we don't do this, it's the landowners themselves who must up the difference in their assessments," Norkeveck said. "It's kind of a closed system." Although he declined to discuss specifics about the accident, Norkeveck predicted Spilka's insurance would take care of the claim. The state also sued Boise Cascade, which hired Spilka and owned the land where the accident occurred. A spokesman for the company had no comment. All of which is lost on Dawn Spilka, 36, who claimed her husband's modest estate and gets by on welfare and worker's compensation. Ironically, at the time of the accident, the couple was getting a divorce. "I hope insurance pays for it," she said, "because I had nothing to do with it. My little girl don't have a daddy no more, and they want me to pay up? It's ridiculous." Norkeveck brushed aside any "twist" that his agency is suing a helpless widow, insisting instead that state officials are accountable to taxpayers. The courts have final say in the matter, he noted. "We constantly remind ourselves (that) we have to insert an appropriate level of compassion in this whole process," he said, "but we also have to meet the legal obligations." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA