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HOME	CLASSIFIEDS	OBITUARIES	SPORTS	OPINION

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Trigo's Origins Found

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
      Fire investigators have narrowed down the spot where the human-caused Trigo Fire began to within a “three foot area or so,” according to the lead investigator.
       But finding the cause of the fire that began April 15, burned 59 homes and charred 13,709 acres could take months.
       “Because it was opening day we know that there were turkey hunters in the area,” said Special Agent Terry McGaha, a criminal investigator with the Forest Service.
       Law Enforcement Officer for the U.S. Forest Service Christine “Krysia” Baron said that human-caused does not necessarily imply intent — or arson.
       Investigators do not know whether the fire was actually started by a turkey hunter or not, and because the point of origin was “destroyed by the initial attack fire crews” some evidence may have been erased, McGaha said.
       “I won't comment on whether it was a cigarette butt or a campfire, but there were people known to be in the area that morning, and we are pursuing leads,” McGaha said.
       Investigators would like to speak with anyone who was in the Trigo Canyon area or who may know of someone who was in the area on the night of April 14 or on the morning of April 15.
       Individuals with information should contact the USDA Forest Service at 842-FIRE (3473) or McGaha at 842-3187.
       On April 18, Baron, law enforcement officers Victor Apodaca and Dusty Olson and Mountainair Ranger District engine foreman Terrance Gallegos were all flown by helicopter into an area where they believe the fire originated.
       “We figured out the point of origin. It took the better part of a day to investigate. We got flown in to a helispot and were reading fire indicators the whole time — looking at the angle of burn on the trees,” Baron said.
       According to Baron, the heat from a fire like Trigo is so intense that even the needles of the trees are permanently fixed in the direction of the fire's movement.
       After hiking in from the helispot, the four firefighters, who wore protective gear and carried fire shelters along with a 30-pound pack, each received hazard pay for the full-day of investigative work on the ground.
       “I see it as an overgrown puzzle and I'm in the middle of it. As a team, we're putting it together to find out what happened,” Baron said.
       One of the first calls the team made before leaving was to dispatchers to get weather data, lightning strike data, dispatch records, 911 records and maps.
       While at the scene, the team took photographs looking both at and away from the presumed fire origination point, sketched the direction of the fire spread, burn indicator locations and evidence locations.
       “We may see something from photographs of a fire that makes sense” and gives investigators clues, Baron said.
       The team also used control points while at the scene for marking-measurements in case the scene has to be reconstructed in the future. For example, in the event someone is prosecuted for starting the fire.
       “This is no different from any other investigation. It's simple police work,” Baron said.
       The fire analysts then transferred the compiled data to McGaha, who is also investigating the Ojo Peak Fire.
       Although investigators have not identified any suspects so far, they believe that the Ojo Peak Fire that burned more than 7,000 acres last November may have been started by a day-hiker in the “relatively popular” hiking area, McGaha said.
       “But we have not developed any leads at all,” McGaha said.
      

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