RSSThirtymile crew chief will avoid prison time
Yakima Herald-Republic
Ellreese Daniels, left, his attorney Tina Hunt, center, and investigator Thomas Krzyzanek arrive at federal court for sentencing, in Spokane, Wash., Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008. A firefighting crew boss at the time, Daniels was charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter and seven felony counts for making false statements with relation to the deaths of four firefighters during a wildfire in 2001. Daniels made a plea agreement with prosecutors pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts of making false statements to investigators.
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SPOKANE -- A federal judge suggested Wednesday that Ellreese Daniels, incident commander at the fatal Thirtymile forest fire, was not responsible for the deaths of four Central Washington firefighters.
But the judge said he was most troubled by evidence that Daniels had lied about his role in the tragedy, particularly telling investigators he had ordered the four firefighters to leave a rocky slope where they later perished.
Handing down what he called a "reasonable" sentence, Judge Fred Van Sickle sentenced Daniels to 90 days of work release and three years of probation. He was the only one to face charges within the U.S. Forest Service, despite investigations that revealed mistakes had stretched across the entire chain of command.
Killed at Thirtymile were firefighters Tom Craven, Karen FitzPatrick, Jessica Johnson and Devin Weaver. Weaver, 21, Johnson, 19, and FitzPatrick, 18, were from Yakima; Craven, 30, lived in Ellensburg. The tragedy unfolded in July 2001, when an abandoned campfire in northern Okanogan County blew up.
Daniels wasn't charged for more than five years.
He initially faced involuntary manslaughter charges, because prosecutors said he failed to take the proper steps to keep his crew safe. But those charges were dropped when he pleaded guilty in April to two misdemeanor counts of lying to investigators about his actions before the deaths. He could have been sentenced to six months in prison
Families of the victims offered a mixed reaction to the outcome of the case.
At one end of the spectrum, mother Kathie FitzPatrick of Yakima had hoped for a sentence of two years. At the other, father Will Craven of Rosyln told the judge Daniels should do "not one day" behind bars.
FitzPatrick wore her daughter's charred watch -- it stopped at 5:29 p.m., about when the coroner estimated that the four died -- and her daughter's shoes as she read a five-page statement to the judge.
"I believe she's looking down from above and wondering where all the common sense has gone," FitzPatrick said during the four-hour hearing Wednesday.
Will Craven was the only one of the four relatives who spoke in defense of Daniels and the Forest Service. He likened the reality of firefighting to war -- sometimes the firefighters come home, other times they return in body bags.
"Ellreese is not in charge of the fire or the wind, and that's what killed them," Craven said. Six of his children have fought fire for the Forest Service; two sons went out again this year, and his daughter just started as a firefighter this season.
Ken Weaver, Devin's father, focused his comments on the need for the Forest Service to be
accountable for the agency's own rules, including those broken at
Thirtymile such as identifying escape routes, setting up lookouts and making regular communications.
After his training, Devin Weaver wondered whether he would even get close to a fire because of the focus on safety.
"He believed everything they told him about safety being job No. 1. He believed they were covering him," Ken Weaver said.
And regardless of stated safety changes, the Forest Service still remains immune from enforcement by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, unlike civilian employers, Weaver noted.
Neither prosecutors nor Daniels got everything they wanted.
The government had asked for four months in prison. Daniels wanted only probation.
With Daniels becoming the first wildland firefighter in the nation to be sentenced for a fireline death, Wednesday's hearing brought an end to the biggest fallout from the
Thirtymile tragedy.
Prosecutors argued the plea agreement was the best way to resolve the case. Some relatives of the victims suggested trial witnesses would have wavered in their testimony.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Hopkins asked Van Sickle to consider that Daniels' disputed statements came at key turning points as the fire progressed toward catastrophic proportions.
Hopkins suggested that Daniels resisted deploying the shelters because some in the Forest Service perceive that as a black mark on a person's career. He later lied in order to avoid losing his job, the prosecutor said
The first count of lying to investigators involved whether Daniels checked in with an engine foreman who arrived to knock down spot fires ahead of where Daniels' crew was taking a break. He claimed the fire truck did not check in with him, when in fact the driver had made contact.
The second count involved whether Daniels told the firefighters to leave a boulder-strewn slope where they were watching the fire advance. Daniels told investigators -- falsely -- that he repeatedly ordered the four to move to the safer area of the roadway. Survivors said he gave no such orders.
The families said the victims never would have disobeyed the order; Daniels firmly believes he made the request, although perhaps it was not very direct.
But Daniels' attorney, federal defender Tina Hunt of Spokane, said she believed prosecutors lacked the evidence they needed to justify the manslaughter charges.
"The judge clearly understood that Ellreese was not responsible for the deaths of these four persons. We are truly grateful that the judge understood that, even if the government didn't," Hunt said told reporters on the courthouse steps.
The 47-year-old Daniels, who was offered an opportunity to speak in court, maintained his silence except to answer routine questions, as he has done throughout the case. Hunt said in court documents that Daniels still suffers from nightmares and deeply regrets the deaths.
Van Sickle ordered him to undergo an evaluation for any problems related to mental health or alcohol abuse, adding that he hoped Daniels would at some point personally convey his feelings to the victims' families.
Daniels was raised by his grandmother. He joined the Forest Service and rose through the ranks for two decades, becoming a fire incident commander.
Daniels continues to work seasonally for the Forest Service at a supply warehouse. He is prohibited from fighting fires. He also works during the winter at the Stevens Pass ski area.
Van Sickle agreed to delay his sentence until he finishes his Forest Service duty. He also may serve his work release at the closest available corrections center to Stevens Pass, so he could keep working and making payments to satisfy a $1,000 fine.
Because he was already given unspecified discipline by the Forest Service, the sentence will not affect his job.
Top regional Forest Service officials attended the hearing. Afterward, Cal Joyner, a Portland-based regional forester, read a statement saying the Forest Service has "a deep sense of empathy" for Daniels.
Although nothing can change the outcome of the Thirtymile fire, the agency's firefighters are safer now and better trained than at any time in the history of the Forest Service, Joyner said.
Firefighters across the country have said they are concerned about the prospect of facing similar prosecution in the dangerous, unpredictable world of wildland fire.
However, some of the victims' relatives said that shouldn't be a concern as long as they work safely.
"All the rules that are in place are there for a reason," said Brooke Blevins, a cousin of Jessica Johnson.
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