Colorado congressman: Endangered Species Act may have led to deaths July 31, 2001, 04:15 PM WASHINGTON - A Republican congressman said Tuesday that delays related to Endangered Species Act protections may have played a role in the July 10 deaths of four wildfire fighters in Washington state. Citing confidential sources, Rep. Scott McInnis, R-Colo., chairman of the House Resources' forests subcommittee, said at a hearing that water to douse the deadly flames was delayed for hours while officials wrestled with endangered species protections.Following the delay, the fire exploded in the Chewuch River canyon in the Okanogan-Wenatchee national forests, growing from 25 acres to 2,500 acres in less than three hours. It trapped several firefighters, killing Tom Craven, 30, Devin Weaver, 21, Jessica Johnson, 19, and Karen FitzPatrick, 18. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said he heard "a whisper" Monday related to the congressman's account, but could not confirm it until the agency completes its investigation. Ken Weaver of Yakima, Devin's father, was angry. "It's stupid enough that it rings true. That's the extreme that some of these zealots go to," he said. "It begs the question: If they were capable of bringing water into this fire, why weren't they capable of airlifting people out of there?" After the hearing, Bosworth said he will continue to work to put public safety and firefighter safety first. But, as was the case in the Thirty Mile Fire, he said, "Sometimes it is not enough." McInnis offered this timetable from his sources outlining what happened: The congressman said a water drop was repeatedly requested, starting at 5:30 a.m. on July 10. The water did not arrive until 3 p.m., after officials had determined that a helicopter could dip into a nearby river – which contained three endangered species – for water to fight the blaze. About an hour later, the fire exploded. And at 5:25 p.m., McInnis said, the four were dead. "I am very, very concerned," he said. "We need to find out if there was a delay putting water on this ... because of the Endangered Species Act." Doug Crandall, staff director for the subcommittee's majority Republicans, said the timeline was confirmed with local Forest Service officials, but without additional information, it is still unclear what role the water drop's delay played in the deaths. That should come out in the investigation. Crandall said the investigation will also look out at how endangered species protections should have been weighed against firefighting efforts – often an ambiguous issue. "That is always a question," he said. "Unless there is a specific policy or previous court decision, that is one of the things that the analysis will have to show. ... What flexibility is there?" In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. [Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml] |