By the Gazette-Times | Posted: Thursday, September 13, 2007 12:00 am
A 40-year-old Salem man charged with starting a fire that burned timberland in Polk County might face a $1 million-plus bill in addition to criminal charges.
The fire began Saturday afternoon and spread over 425 acres southwest of Dallas in Polk County.
Eric Larkins turned himself in to the Polk County Sheriff's Office in Dallas on Tuesday afternoon. He was booked and released. The fire is believed to have started when Larkins fired three .50-caliber tracer-type bullets into a dead tree stump. The rifle was described by enforcement officers as a military-style sniper rifle.
Larkins and several other people reportedly tried to extinguish smoke that rose from the stump but left the scene when the fire grew. Larkins has been charged with second-degree criminal mischief, reckless burning and may face other charges.
Sunday, the fire spread quickly because of high winds. As many as four helicopters dropped retardant on the fire over the weekend and through Monday, when the wind died down. Hundreds of public and private firefighters battled the blaze on the ground that is owned by Forest Capital Partners and the Bureau of Land Management. Terrain slopes range from 15 to 70 percent.
Crews had contained the fire late Tuesday and were in the mopping-up phase, according to Jeff Forman of the Oregon Department of Forestry. Mop-up is expected to last up to a week.
In addition to criminal charges, under Oregon law, Larkins could have to pay for the cost of fire suppression. ODF spokesman Rod Nichols said Wednesday morning that the cost of battling the fire was already $1.25 million and climbing.
"We investigate all fires and obviously this needed to be investigated since there was no lightning or other weather events that day," Nichols said. "We were pretty certain it was human caused. In case of fire started due to negligence or carelessness, the state can seek damages to reimburse our firefighting fund. The reimbursement is for suppression costs, not for the damages to the resource. Landowners can also seek to recoup their damages."
Nichols said private forest owners pay a per-acre assessment every year based on the previous year's firefighting costs. This year's assessments range from about 73 cents to $1.36 per acre depending on locations within the state. Money is also allocated from the state's general fund, which amounts to about half of the total firefighting budget.
"The assessment rate is based on the previous year's firefighting costs," Nichols said. "If there are expensive fires, the rate goes up; if there aren't many fires, the rate goes down."