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Pair May Face Charges In Two Wildfires

Adam Lynn And Virginia De Leon S Staff writer

Investigators on Friday questioned two men suspected of accidentally starting the wildfires that left four families homeless and burned nearly 2,000 acres west of Spokane.

The pair may face criminal and civil penalties - including paying the costs of fighting the fires - if they are responsible for igniting the blazes, authorities said.

Firefighting costs are running about $300,000 a day, said Dick Dunton, assistant regional manager for the state Department of Natural Resources.

In March, DNR filed a $1.2 million claim against a couple suspected of starting a fire that burned 3,000 acres and destroyed eight houses on the West Plains last August.

Thursday’s fires began within an hour of each other and quickly spread out of control.

A 1,300-acre fire near Tum Tum, Wash., destroyed four mobile homes and numerous barns and sheds.

A blaze that began near Old Trails and Newkirk roads in western Spokane County scorched 600 acres and destroyed several outbuildings.

“We suspect they are human-caused fires,” Dunton said.

Investigators said they interviewed a west Spokane man in connection with the Newkirk Road fire. They did not identify him or give his address.

On Thursday, a man repairing a boat on Old Trails Road took the blame for that fire.

The man told a newspaper reporter the blaze began as he was using a blowtorch. A red-hot bolt fell off the boat, igniting some tall grass in the yard, he said.

“It’s my fault, I know,” said the man, who refused to give his name.

Officials investigating the Tum Tum fire narrowed their focus to a 1.5-acre patch of scorched grass behind a single-wide trailer owned by Dale Fox.

DNR crews roped off the area behind the blue-and-white trailer and began looking for clues.

“All indications are it started here,” said DNR investigator Bill Fisher, pointing behind Fox’s trailer.

Stevens County sheriff’s deputies and DNR investigators spent much of the afternoon interviewing Fox.

“He’s cooperating,” said Fisher, who wouldn’t elaborate.

Attempts to reach Fox for comment were unsuccessful.

A teenager said he saw the man set fire to a pile of trash shortly before the Tum Tum blaze started about 1 p.m. Thursday.

“He lit a bag of garbage and walked in the house,” said Brent Mitchell, 17.

Fox, who lives on a private road west of Tum Tum, has a history of careless burning, according to neighbors.

He has started smaller wildfires by burning garbage in his back yard, according to three residents who live in the remote area off state Highway 291.

“This is one of three, four fires he’s had out here,” said one resident, Suzanne Fulton.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Yakima fire out of control Elswhere in Washington state, a blaze near Yakima had burned 300 acres of timber and brush and was still out of control, fire officials said Friday. A fire burning in a wilderness area of the North Cascades National Park near Mount Baker has grown to 250 acres but was miles from any buildings or roads, a park statement said. The fire was caused by lightning and will be left to burn itself out, park officials said.

This sidebar appeared with the story: Yakima fire out of control Elswhere in Washington state, a blaze near Yakima had burned 300 acres of timber and brush and was still out of control, fire officials said Friday. A fire burning in a wilderness area of the North Cascades National Park near Mount Baker has grown to 250 acres but was miles from any buildings or roads, a park statement said. The fire was caused by lightning and will be left to burn itself out, park officials said.