ATF takes lead in fire probe

Investigators don’t know what caused the Sunday afternoon fire that destroyed the U.S. Forest Service’s Wallowa Mountains Visitors Center in Enterprise. The Forest Service leased the 20,500-square-foot building from its private owner. (The La Grande Observer/Katy Nesbitt)

“Structures are ATF’s specialty,” said Judy Wing, public affairs officer for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, which ran the visitors center.

The Forest Service had leased the 20,500-square-foot log building from its private owner since the structure opened in April 1990.

The FBI, U.S. Forest Service law enforcement, state fire marshal, Oregon State Police and Wallowa County Sheriff’s Department are also involved in the investigation to determine the origin and cause of the fire, Wing said.

Wallowa-Whitman Supervisor Steve Ellis said this morning that so far as he knows, the state fire marshal’s decision to make ATF the lead agency “is not a result of something they’re finding” during the investigation.

“This is what the ATF does, they’re good at it, and it’s a federal facility,” Ellis said.

Ellis said that when he visited the center on Thursday, two workers, apparently hired by the building’s owner, Seaside Associates of Chelan, Wash., were applying “some sort of sealer” on the building’s exterior.

“I could smell it,” Ellis said.

Wing said the crew, which was performing what she called “routine maintenance,” was not working on Sunday.

Neither Ellis nor Wing knows whether the workers were present on Friday or Saturday.

Ellis said that although he understands the public might “read something into” the arrival of ATF and FBI agents, as regards the possibility that the fire was arson, he’s waiting for the investigators to finish their work.

“I don’t want to speculate,” Ellis said. “I’m not a fire investigator. The professionals are here to deal with this. I want to know and I know the public wants to know what happened.”

The Enterprise Fire Department continued to cool down what remains of the building Tuesday and to maintain a secure fire line despite gusty winds.

A ponderosa pine that had been found dead in the forest and transported to be the centerpiece of the visitors center remained upright, although burning, until 3:15 p.m. Tuesday when it toppled into the ash.

Some of the west side of the building remains, although it’s thoroughly charred.

The investigation will continue into the week.

“The process they follow is very sequential,” Wing said.

Paul Karvoski, Enterprise fire chief, said that because of the investigation the firefighters aren’t following their normal procedures of busting up the remaining building and using lots of water to cool it down. Conversely, the site has to cool down for a thorough investigation to be completed.

“It is important that the public stay away and respect the closure of the visitors center to maintain the integrity of the investigation,” Wing said.

Many daily functions of the Forest Service were restored as early as Monday.

A mobile communications unit was loaned by Baker County to provide fire dispatch coverage for the north zone’s fire region.

The county recently took delivery of that unit, said Jerry Boyd, who manages the county’s consolidated dispatch center.

By Wednesday, a T-1 line was scheduled to be installed to provide direct communication between the warehouse and the Blue Mountain Inter-agency Dispatch Center in La Grande.

It was business as usual Tuesday at the Forest Service’s fire warehouse in Enterprise, which was not damaged.

Fire crews maintained their tools and dug a ditch on the compound. Other crews have been able to continue trail and field work. Field contract work has been largely uninterrupted.

Some recently collected data that had not been uploaded into the Forest Service’s computer system will have to be redone, Wing said.

The Blue Mountain Incident Command Team, temporarily headquartered at the Fairgrounds in Enterprise, is investigating options for office space, Wing said.

“Regional leasing specialists are arriving this week to assist with this fairly complex issue,” she said.

Cal Joiner, deputy regional forester, has scheduled meetings with employees, county commissioners and the incident management team that is working on finding space, Wing said.

Ellis said he has received phone calls from both Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Rep. Greg Walden, who represents Eastern Oregon in Congress.

Although Ellis said he missed both calls, being busy trying to restore “a semblance of normalcy” to Forest Service operations in Wallowa County, both Kulongoski and Walden left voice messages expressing their concern about the fire and offering their help.