Downed power lines sparked 13 Oregon fires
SALEM, Ore. — A fire incident report says downed power lines sparked at least 13 fires during a period of strong wind last week between two Oregon communities that were devastated by flames.
The report from the Northwest Interagency Fire Coordination Center that was written last Thursday says the fires ignited between Mehama and Detroit east of the capital of Salem during peak wind on Sept. 7.
The report doesn’t say to what extent those fire starts affected a larger, separate blaze that started Aug. 16.
That wind-driven fire, called the Beachie Creek Fire, swept through a canyon on Sept. 8 and wiped out the towns of Detroit, Gates, Mill City and Idanha. Its cause is still under investigation.
The Oregon Public Utility Commission told local media Tuesday that it had no information that attributed a “specific wildfire to any specific Oregon utility.”
Meanwhile, an Oregon man has been formally charged with setting an arson fire in the southwest part of the state that damaged 15 properties.
According to court documents, 41-year-old Michael Jarrod Bakkela, of Salem, started a fire behind a home in Phoenix on Sept. 8 as strong, dry wind pummeled the state.
He is not being charged with starting a much larger fire in Ashland, Ore., which began the same day.
BREAKING NEWS:
Here's the absolute latest on the arson arrest just announced of Michael Bakkela in connection with the Almeda Fire in the Rogue Valley.
For the latest updates: https://t.co/XbEFlrfRJm@KTVL pic.twitter.com/cQZ5wQsD44
— Carmine Gemei (@CarmineKTVL) September 11, 2020
Bakkela is being held on an enhanced bail of $5 million in Jackson County and faces 32 criminal counts, including two counts of first-degree arson, 15 counts of criminal mischief, 14 counts of reckless endangerment and one count of methamphetamine possession.
He was scheduled to be arraigned later Wednesday.
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