FBI, ATF join probe into big Forest Service blaze

Published 5:00 pm Monday, July 12, 2010

The site of district headquarters of the U.S. Forest Service in Enterprise has been declared a crime scene following a spectacular, fast-growing fire that destroyed the two-story log building.

Local firefighters were informed of the crime-scene declaration about 9 p.m. Sunday, July 11, four hours after the blaze was first reported. Yellow “crime scene” tape surrounded the property and a reserve sheriff’s deputy was stationed at the bottom of the driveway to restrict access.

Investigators from the state fire marshal’s office arrived to join a probe that was expected to include agents from the FBI and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives plus Oregon State Police arson investigators, said Rich Hoover, spokesman for the fire marshal.

Investigators and others met Monday afternoon at Cloverleaf Hall, and they hoped to enter the scene late Tuesday after Chieftain press time. The had waited because of remaining hot spots and smoldering. Wisps of smoke could still be seen from a distance Tuesday morning.

Chuck Anderson/Chieftain

The leased 20-year-old building was a total loss, according to Forest Service spokeswoman Judy Wing. Damage to the building and contents likely will exceed $5 million.

No one was in the building when the fire broke out after 4 p.m. Sunday, July 11, she said.

Wing and Hoover said the multi-agency probe was standard procedure when a federal agency is the victim of a “high-profile fire.” Several observers with knowledge of firefighting and fire investigation said the probe should include several circumstances:

? The building was undergoing “oiling” of the logs, a process that protects them much like paint on a house. Different products, some of which are flammable, can be used for oiling, experts say, but heat isn’t part of the process.

? The fire grew unusually fast. Motorists on Highway 82, from where one can see the building clearly, said they had not noticed flames or smoke shortly before the first 9-1-1 calls, and arriving firefighters then found “flames shooting through the roof,” one said.

? One early arriving witness said the fire appeared to have been burning on the exterior for some time before it went to the interior, where a fire alarm sounded at Safeguard Security of Enterprise.

In a standard fire investigation, an attempt first is made to determine the point of origin. Next, all possible causes are considered, then eliminated one at a time until a single cause remains.

Media representatives were instructed to channel all inquiries to the Forest Service, with local fire departments and law enforcement instructed to not make any news releases.

“It was devastating,” said Mary DeAguero, district ranger for the Eagle Cap Ranger District, whose office was in the building. Also burned were offices of the Wallowa Valley Ranger District, Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, the Farmers Service Agency, National Resource Conservation Service and Wallowa Soil and Water Conservation District and the extensive Wallowa Mountains Visitor Center.

The visitor center was closed Sunday and no one was working in the building, Wing said.

USFS spokeswoman Joanie Bosworth said the service had just negotiated a two-year extension of its lease. The agency reportedly has been paying $500,000 a year and the building owners are demanding a new lease at $750,000.

Chuck Anderson/Chieftain

“We will now focus on how to get office functions and public services back to normal,” Wing quoted Steve Ellis, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest supervisor, as saying.

The USFS Blue Mountain Fire Team, which usually manages large wildfire incidents, was brought in for its expertise in logistics, planning and communication, Wing said.

About 40 volunteer firefighters from Enterprise, Joseph, Wallowa, Oregon Department of Forestry and the Forest Service responded, and some stayed on the scene through the night. It was the area’s biggest structure fire since the Hackworth Building in Enteprise burned in mid-2007.

In the fire’s first hours, the attack was hampered by low water pressure and lack of any hydrants on the USFS grounds, one firefighter said. Hose lines had to be laid from hydrants on Highway 82 and at the nearby Best Western Rama Inn and Suites. But fire officials conceded that even with optimum water supplies, they probably could not have saved the building.

Next-door USFS shops and vehicles were unscathed as was the Best Western.

Because they are trained and equipped only to fight wildland fires, the Forest Service firefighters were relegated to assisting those from the local cities.

One Joseph firefighter was taken to Wallowa Memorial Hospital with symptoms of heatstroke and released about midnight, but no other injuries were reported.

Ellis paid tribute to the fire departments, saying he “appreciates their support and response,” Wing said.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon, was quick to respond.

“It is a blessing that that nobody was injured,” he said. “This is a terrible loss for the community . . . I stand ready to help ensure minimal disruption from the fire.”