3 years ago today

[azsnowman]

This time 3 years ago who knew, who knew that the peaceful White Mountain area would become home to the largest wildfire in the states history and one of largest wildfires in the history of the west! Pretty amazing how soon some forget!


Tribe questions decision to let Chediski firestarter walk free, no charges





By: Jo Baeza, The Independent 06/17/2005





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WHITERIVER - Many people in the White Mountains were upset with the U. S. Attorney's 2002 decision to let Chediski firestarter Valinda Jo Elliott walk free while Leonard Gregg was sentenced to prison for starting the Rodeo Fire.
Others distinguished between the motives of the two. Gregg set the Rodeo Fire deliberately so he could get work as a contract firefighter. Elliott, fearing for her life, set a signal fire to attract a helicopter when she became lost on Chediski Ridge.

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The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced the arrest of Gregg on June 20, 2002, on two charges of setting fire to timber. Evidence against Gregg included boot prints at the site of the origin, and a statement from a woman who said Gregg told her there would be a fire before it happened.
Racial slurs against Apache people were heard in some quarters in the aftermath of Gregg's arrest, but most people on the Mountain felt like Fort Apache Hotshot Crew Boss Marco Minjarez, who commented, "Stupidity comes in all colors, I guess."
Gregg has received a great deal of compassion from many tribal members, as he confessed, showed remorse, and said he just wanted to take his punishment.
Tribal Chairman Dallas Massey said of the sentence, "We do not feel that the 10-year sentence . . . is appropriate or beneficial for him or our community."
Other tribal members also registered objections. Gregg's attorney felt that fetal alcohol syndrome affected his judgment and should have been taken into consideration.
Gregg is serving a 10-year term in federal prison. He was ordered to serve a minimum of 85 percent of his sentence, followed by 36 months of supervised probation. The amount for restitution was set at $28 million. U.S. District Court Judge James Teilborg ordered him to pay $100 a month for life upon his release.
Three years after the Rodeo-Chediski Fire questions remain about what Elliott was doing in a remote closed area of the reservation when she became lost. Investigators who interviewed Elliott and her companion said she was cooperative and her story was believable. Tribal leaders maintain she is liable even if there was no malice in her intentions.
According to an FBI telephone interview July 5, 2002, Elliott left Phoenix June 18, 2002, with "her boss" to go to Young to repair a pool table at the Antler Bar and collect money from vending machines.
Her companion, a self-employed vending machine operator named Ransford K. Olmsted, said he was teaching her his business and was going to hire her when he could afford it. He said they usually went through Payson, but this day decided to take the "back road" to Young through Globe. They thought the other road might be closed because of the Rodeo Fire that was starting to build.
They missed the turnoff to Roosevelt Lake, according to Elliott, and ended up in the Salt River Canyon. At the convenience store in the canyon they got a map and were told they could get to Young by going through Cibecue. They didn't buy gas because they thought the price was "exorbitant."
Driving toward Cibecue they took the 12A tribal road instead of the 12 road. By the time they realized they were lost, they were low on gas. They called the Tonto National Forest to report they were lost, but the office was closed, so they stopped and slept in the truck with pool table covers for blankets.
The next morning Olmsted stayed in the truck to try to fix the adapter so they could charge the cell phone batteries in the cigarette lighter. Elliott decided to walk to a high spot to attempt to get better cell reception. She was wearing a tank top, shorts and flip-flops, and the terrain was rough.
According to Elliott's interview, she got lost on the way back to the pickup. She was hungry and very thirsty, so she drank out of a pool of stagnant water. After confronting a bear and climbing a ridge, she found a large flat rock where she spent the night. On the morning of June 20 she said she was afraid she was going to die, so she lit a small signal fire with grass and brush, using her cigarette lighter.
The fire started to put up some smoke that was spotted early in the morning by a TV Channel 5 news helicopter with two men aboard. She said she "scooted on her tail" back off the ridge to an open field where a helicopter could land. The helicopter saw her distress signal and landed. They gave her water, briefly interviewed her, then flew her to the Payson hospital where she was treated. They were afraid the stagnant water might have made her ill, as they knew of someone who had died recently from drinking muddy water.
In the meantime, Olmsted ran out of gas while he was searching for her on June 19. He walked 36 miles before he was picked up by four men who loaned him two gas cans, took him to Cibecue to fill them, then back to his pickup. He gave them $135 and continued to look for Elliott. Late in the day he gave up and drove back to Cibecue to file a missing persons report with police. A White Mountain Apache game ranger came to Cibecue interview him and helped him get gas for his truck after the gas station had closed.
When Olmsted and the ranger were looking for Elliott the morning of June 20, the ranger received word at about 10:30 a.m. that she was enroute to the Payson hospital in a Channel 5 helicopter. The ranger escorted Olmsted off the reservation and pointed him toward Payson. He drove to the Payson hospital where Elliott told him her story.
Elliott was still worrying about the fire, although she had been assured by the helicopter pilot that it had been reported.
The helicopter pilot/newsman said they spotted Elliott's signal fire at about 6 a.m. June 20, then saw her in a clearing waving a towel at them. When they landed, she told them she had been without food or drinking water for three days and had been drinking out of a stagnant pond. They gave her water and stated she was "very emotional, shaky, and crying." They took out some of their equipment to make room for her, loaded her aboard at 7 a.m., and called the Channel 5 news desk, asking them to call the U.S. Forest Service or Department of Public Safety to report the signal fire.
At the time they picked up Elliott, the helicopter pilot told the FBI interviewer, the signal fire was "very little and in some bushes, one tree, and some grass."
After dropping Elliott off in Payson, they returned to the clearing to get the equipment they had left. The fire had not spread much by that time, according to the interview. They called Rodeo Air Attack regarding the fire, then again called their news desk to confirm the Forest Service had been notified.
The helicopter pilot said the wind was blowing at approximately 10 mph when they rescued Elliott. When they returned for their equipment at about 8 a.m. "the wind had picked up moderately."
While all this was taking place, the Rodeo Fire blew up and began to plume. Command of the fire was turned over to Larry Humphrey's Type 1 Incident Management Team. By mid-morning June 20 the Rodeo Fire had grown to 30,000 acres. The wall of flame topped the Mogollon Rim and roared through Pinedale, destroying 16 houses. Firefighters were called back to a "safe zone." Eighty homes were saved.
Heber/Overgaard Fire Chief Mell Epps left the Pinedale area where he had been on patrol all night. He asked a friend who had a small plane to fly him over the newly reported Chediski Fire. It still appeared to be a small, manageable fire. In the short time it took them to fly back to the airport, the fire had grown to 2,000 acres.
The fire started by Gregg and the fire started by Elliott burned together on Sunday, June 23. All the residents of towns along the Mogollon Rim, an estimated 30,000-40,000 people, were evacuated except those who were working on the fire. The entire Mogollon Rim was engulfed in smoke. The smoke was drifting as far northeast as Santa Fe, N.M.
Relief came on June 24 when the winds died down somewhat, allowing firefighters to begin backburning. The President and Governor flew into Springerville to offer hope and encouragement to firefighters and evacuees.
The White Mountain and Mescalero Apache Tribes offered rewards for information leading to the prosecution of the person who started the Rodeo Fire. Shortly afterward, Gregg was arrested.
After a week of evacuation, residents of Show Low and Pinetop-Lakeside were finally allowed to go home on June 29. Heber/Overgaard, Forest Lakes and Aripine residents returned home June 30.
On July 6 the fire was called 95 percent "contained." More than 4,400 firefighters had worked 14-hour shifts to control "the Monster," as it was labeled. Miraculously, no one was killed or seriously injured.
The fire cost approximately $43 million to control and millions more have been spent to repair environmental damage in the years since. The work of the Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) team continues.
A repentant Leonard Gregg is serving his sentence. Valinda Jo Elliott is still awaiting her trial.

[azskyman]

I remember it well...not nearly so vivid as you and Michelle, Dennis. But for days and weeks we could see the plume from here in the Valley.

Can't believe it has been three already!

[Stephanie]

I can't believe that it's been 3 years as well! It seems like only last year.

[Miss Mary]

It does seem like a year or so ago.

Time is just going by way too fast. I remember praying for your community Dennis, like it was yesterday. Going to sleep at night, waking up thinking about all of you out there.

Mary

PS - it's been about 6 years ago now since I opened that TWC Chat Room door and the rest as they say is history.....6 years! Can't believe that sometimes....

[Skywatch_NC]

Time really flies!

[Pburgh]

I remember the call. ((Hugs)) to you and Michelle. I remember how every weather friend around was praying for your safety.

[Miss Mary]

Karan - I remember this as well. I prayed all day long, went to sleep worrying about you Dennis (and Michelle), your entire community. Waking up, checking first thing, etc.

It does not seem like 3 years ago. Why does time have to fly by so fast? Not that I want you to revisit this time period Dennis....what a scary time. I'm so glad you didn't lose your home.

M.