A year after the Snake River Fire
TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY
Taylor Nadauld
Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Moscow, Idaho (TNS)
Today marks one year since the Snake River Fire sparked in the Wawawai Canyon and eventually burned more than 11,000 acres in Whitman and Garfield counties.
A full year later, the three men that investigators say are responsible for starting the fire are still moving through the courts, where they all face charges of second-degree reckless burning, according to Matt Newberg, prosecuting attorney for Garfield County.
“Each of the defendants is represented by counsel and my office is working with each of those attorneys, and the victims of the fire, to determine an appropriate resolution in this case,” Newberg wrote in an email to the Daily News.
Sixteen property owners have come forward claiming their property was damaged in the fire. At least two of the suspects have volunteered with different landowners to help reduce some of the monetary damages, Newberg said.
The suspects, Blake Rogers, Isaiah Weber and Jonathan Whitley, all of Pullman, reportedly admitted to police they had built a small campfire and spent the night where the fire is believed to have started in the canyon the following day, Aug. 2, 2016.
The charge of second-degree reckless burning is punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine plus restitution, fees and assessments.
The fire ultimately jumped a one-quarter mile section of the Snake River and burned 11,452 acres of land between Whitman and Garfield counties, according to Washington’s Incident Information System.
It took 11 aircraft, two heavy air tankers, four single engine air tankers, three Type 2 helicopters and two Type 3 helicopters to extinguish the blaze. Firefighters from every local fire district in Whitman County and departments in Moscow and Genesee assisted.
“It’s the biggest one attended I have ever been to,” Pullman Fire Chief Mike Heston told the Daily News on Monday.
Heston, however, remembers the 2015 fire season as a worse season all-around. That year President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Washington as the state faced what news outlets called the worst fire season in The Evergreen State’s history.
Heston said 2017 could be nearly as busy or even more so than 2015, though not necessarily comparable in acreage burned. Heston called 2015 “astronomical” in that aspect.
“I went on five fires that year and I’ve already gone on four this year – and I’m just getting started,” Heston said.
Just three weeks ago he traveled to another fire on the Snake River, roughly 15 miles east of Pomeroy, caused by a lightning strike. It took about four days to contain the blaze, which burned 3,100 acres.
Due to the heavy amount of rain and snow the region experienced this past winter, cheatgrass has been approximately three times taller than normal, and thicker too, Heston said.
“That adds extra fuel to our fire load,” Heston said.
That, combined with meteorologists’ predictions of triple digits in southeastern Washington this week, only intensifies the risk for fires.
To prevent them, Heston suggests absolutely no burning or doing anything that would create a spark, such as improperly discarding cigarettes, burning barrels or setting off fireworks.
Taylor Nadauld can be reached at (208) 883-4630, by email to tnadauld@dnews.com and on Twitter @tnadauldarg.
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)2017 the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Moscow, Idaho)
Visit the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Moscow, Idaho) at www.dnews.com
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AP-WF-08-02-17 1316GMT