News of theWeek
CONT’D
As for the suspects, both Larsen and Ilenstine were seen using brush cutters near the area where the fire started by trail runner David Thompson. On Monday, May 11, Ilenstine’s attorney Sam Eaton sent a letter to Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Pat McElroy, indicating his client and another man, later identified as Larsen, had been conducting vegetation clearance on Jesusita Trail PINPOINTED: This map shows exactly the morning the fire where the fire began. started. Both denied responsibility for starting it. On May 14, search warrants were executed at the homes of both men, recovering the two Stihl brush cutters that were in working condition, with one missing a blade. On September 2, 2009, the county’s fire investigator Darrell Delgado submitted his report, concluding, “The decisions attributed to Ilenstine and Larsen during the investigation HEAVY ARTILLERY: On the second day of the fire, larger Type 1 planes dropped retardant between Mission Canyon and the advancing perimeter. introduced the subject power equipment onto BY R AY F O R D frustration, said Heffernan, is what motivated 1,200-page report in August 2009, tested Stihl FS a brush-covered southern slope during weather n a major victory for 60 of the home- numerous homeowners to file this case. R brush cutters at Lake Cachuma and found conducive to vegetation fires … and appears to owners whose houses were destroyed The lawsuit’s major allegation was that Stihl that they ignited two small fires in less than 10 have caused the damage documented during by the Jesusita Fire, Stihl Inc. last week did not warn users like Ilenstine and Larsen that minutes. The flames seemed dependent upon the Jesusita Fire.” agreed to settle a civil lawsuit that the metal blades of the Stihl FS brush cutters wind, suggesting that the brush cutter could Based on that, in December 2009, the Santa claimed the company’s power tools could spark a wildfire in high-risk areas, a situ- have created sparks that smoldered in the dry, Barbara County District Attorney’s Office filed ignited the May 2009 wildfire. The terms of the ation that would require a special label per the cut grasses before bursting into flames when the misdemeanor criminal charges against IlenCalifornia Public Resources Code. The company breeze kicked up. stine and Larsen for not obtaining a “hot work” settlement were kept confidential. Looking to determine the exact spot where permit, which is a violation of a California The suit was brought on behalf of the home- countered that such sparks were insufficient to owners by Los Angeles attorney Brian Heffer- start a fire. Experts from Santa Barbara County the fire started, Cal Fire investigators scoured Fire Code. When the charge was thrown out nan, of the firm of Engstrom, Lipscomb & Lack. Fire, Cal Fire, and other agencies retained by the area from May 8 to 11 while firefighting by Judge Jean Dandona in 2010, a determined “This settlement provides a measure of relief for Heffernan disagreed. Heffernan explained,“The efforts were still underway elsewhere. They effort by Heffernan on behalf of the homethe homeowners who lost not only their homes defense in the case was premised on two funda- found a number of indicators, including angle owners to recover damages through the civil and possessions but, in many cases, irreplaceable mental untruths: that Larsen and Ilenstine did and depth of charred brush, sooting, stain- courts began to take shape. Additionally, to help items,” explained Heffernan, who has extensive not work in the area where the fire originated ing, and other evidence that led them back to recover costs spent fighting and investigating experience in wildfire-related litigation and also on the day of the fire, and that, even if they did, what they determined was the general point of the fire, Cal Fire filed a suit against Ilenstine represented a number of victims of the Tea Fire. the sparks for a metal blade like they were using origin, which was later corroborated by hiker and Larsen and settled in December 2012 for a Robert Muraoka, who spotted the fire, as well as reported $2 million. The settlement was the result of mediation that were incapable of igniting a fire.” was ordered by the court last spring, as attorneys freshly cut vegetation, at 2:09 p.m. when it was were in the midst of deposing dozens of poten- THE INVESTIGATION “the size of the hood of a car.” The investigators THE LESSON tial witnesses for a civil trial that was expected The plaintiffs’ case was built on extensive also found rock surfaces scarred by metal blades In statements made to investigators, neither investigations carried out by Cal Fire and the and concluded that the fire was started either Larsen nor Ilenstine believed they were to begin this August. The news comes more than three years after Santa Barbara County Fire Department. The because of the resulting sparks or due to the engaging in unsafe work. Both are longtime the Jesusita Fire erupted around 1:39 p.m. on latter, which published its results as part of a tools’ hot exhaust particles. contractors with hundreds of hours using May 5, 2009, along a stretch of Jesusita Trail power tools and plenty of experience with in upper San Roque Canyon. By the time it Santa Barbara’s propensity for wildfires. Larsen was contained 10 days later, the wildfire had even lived in one of the high-risk zones and burned 8,733 acres, cost more than $35 million was forced to evacuate during the Jesusita Fire. dollars to fight, destroyed more than 80 homes They were just trying to keep the trail passable. and outbuildings, and injured 30 firefighters As the search warrant was served on his home, — three of whom required hospitalization for Ilenstine explained,“We thought we were doing second- and third-degree burns. It’s believed to good.” have been caused by Santa Barbara contractors While the settlement will help homeowners Dana Larsen and Craig Ilenstine, who were seen recover some damages, Heffernan hopes it will clearing brush along the trail with Stihl power keep the public focused on safety. “I don’t think tools shortly before the fire erupted. either of these guys felt like they were taking a The suit was filed on July 14, 2011, about a big risk using power tools up there that day,” year after Larsen and Ilenstine pleaded no conhe said. “This amplified a point we were maktest to charges of using brush cutters —which ing in the lawsuit, that users are not adequately are heavy-duty weed whackers— without fire informed of the fire risks associated with using suppression equipment. A previous attempt to a gas-powered machine in an area like this. Even those with extensive experience with tools like prosecute the two for more serious charges was tossed out by a judge, so they were each senIlenstine and Larsen completely underestimated tenced to 250 hours of community service and those risks.” three years’ probation. But given the destruction of so many homes and the serious injuries This is the first in a series of articles by Ray Ford TOTAL LOSS: Flames rage through the remains of a home near the top of Spyglass Ridge. sustained by firefighters, many in the commuabout living in a wildfire zone. Read more at Inspiration Point is in the distance. independent.com. nity felt that the pair got off too easy, and that
Jesusita Fire Settlement Reached
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law & disorder
Stihl Agrees to Confidential Payout for 60 Homeowners
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august 1, 2013
THE INDEPENDENt
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