THIS PAST JULY THERE WAS A MAJOR WOODS FIRE near Spokane, Washington, that spread through 1,200 acres and destroyed 12 homes. On Tuesday, December 2, thirteen parties who own property that was destroyed in the fire entered a civil lawsuit against the woman who was responsible for the fire starting.
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KHQ-TV
On June 30 the state Department of Natural Resources issued a burn ban on all property protected by the DNR in Spokane County. However, on July 7 a 16-yr.-old boy who was under the supervision of Dr. Tracy Berg started, with her permission, a recreational fire in a fire pit that Dr. Berg believed to be on her property.
After believing that he had put the fire out, the boy then left the site where the fire smoldered for three days until a wind whipped it back into life and started the named Valley View fire. The state expended $3 million to fight and extinguish the fire. Estimates of the property damage range from $25 to $50 million.
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The fire pit where the blaze originated.
(KHQ-TV)
A report issued on November 24 by the DNR states that the fire was started after the burn ban was issued and that debris found in the fire pit contained items that are expressly forbidden to be burned without a permit. The investigation also disclosed that neighbors had been complaining for many months about the dangerous burning practices taking place on the Berg property. It was later determined, also, that the burn pit was unknowingly located outside her property boundary. The report also recommends that Dr. Berg be issued a citation for the fire.
The lawsuit spells out all of the violations and misfeasance of the defendants and you can read the 10-page filing HERE (.pdf format).
KREM-TV Spokane filed this video story when the DNR report was issued last week:
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