Oregon wildfire investigated as arson after human remains found

By Lee Brown

September 11, 2020 | 9:07am | Updated 

Bicyclist documents Almeda fire destruction in Oregon

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One of the wildfires devastating Oregon is being probed as a possible arson after human remains were found — as the death toll from historic blazes ravaging the West Coast climbed to at least 23, with dozens still missing early Friday.

The fire that started in Ashland — and destroyed at least 600 homes and more than 3,000 acres of land — is an “active criminal investigation” after two bodies were found, Jackson County Sheriff Nate Sickler told the Medford Mail Tribune.

“We are still in the early stages,” Sickler said of his department’s Major Assault and Death Investigation Unit. “Nothing’s been ruled out,” he said of the fire that spread “at an extreme rate” after starting Tuesday.

Ashland police chief Tighe O’Meara also told Reuters that the devastating blaze — dubbed the Almeda fire — was being treated as suspicious.

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Mark Buktenica looks through the rubble of a home destroyed by the Almeda Fire in Talent, Oregon, yesterday.John Locher/AP

“We have good reason to believe that there was a human element to it,” he said. “We’re going to pursue it as a criminal investigation until we have reason to believe that it was otherwise.”

Officials did not offer more detail on how the bodies were thought to be connected to arson — but dispelled online rumors that it was tied to militants who have left Portland under siege.

“One thing I can say is that the rumor it was set by Antifa is 100% false information,” O’Meara told The Oregonian. “We have some leads, and none of it points in that direction.”

The arson probe came as officials feared two of the Beaver State’s largest blazes — called the Beachie Creek and Riverside fires — were feared to be about to combine, The Oregonian said.

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Here's how many people have been forced to flee Oregon wildfires

“We have never seen this amount of uncontained fire across our state,” Gov. Kate Brown told a press conference, as at least 500,000 people — more than 10% the state’s population — have been forced to evacuate.

The death toll rose Thursday to at least 23 as more than 100 major fires consumed land across Oregon, Washington and California.

In California, the North Complex fire became the state’s deadliest blaze of the year as 10 people were confirmed dead by Thursday — with at least 16 people missing.

At least four people with critical burns were hospitalized from the blaze that tore through Sierra Nevada foothills so quickly that fire crews were nearly engulfed, and the town of Berry Creek, population 525, was gutted.

The Golden State remains the worst hit, with at least 19 confirmed dead.

“It’s a historic season on top of a historic season that replaced a historic season. We just keep setting new precedents, and then we keep destroying them,” said Sean Norman, a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.