Forest Service May Bill Marines for Brush Fire

The U. S. Forest Service will consider billing the Marine Corps for the $2-million cost of fighting a brush fire last year that was caused by a Camp Pendleton platoon.

Forest Service Special Agent Tom LaNier said Monday that the service’s legal office in San Francisco will review the Marine Corps’ investigative report and determine whether to hold the corps financially liable for the 10,000-acre blaze.

He said the review will also enable the agency to decide whether two Marines involved in the incident should face penalties.

“I’m requesting a copy of the (investigative) report to see if there was gross negligence or what did go on,” LaNier said.

The investigation, finished in November but released last week, concluded that the Oct. 18 fire, which took about 900 firefighters five days to contain, was caused by the “unlawful use of pyrotechnics.”

The report says that 1st Lt. Joseph Shannon took a 10-man platoon and a canister of flares and smoke grenades into the firing range for a training exercise and allowed the devices to be discharged in an area that was restricted because of high fire danger.

The incendiary devices started two quick-spreading fires that eventually burned parts of San Diego, Orange and Riverside counties.

The report says Shannon received a military violation notice for improperly firing the pyrotechnics, failing to maintain communication with the firing range control officer and not reporting that a Marine suffered smoke inhalation.

Another Marine, Staff Sgt. John Cadigan, who gave Shannon the devices and asked him to dispose of them, received a warning, according to the report.

LaNier said the Forest Service was unaware until last week that the Marine Corps had investigated the fire, although Camp Pendleton officials acknowledged from the beginning that Marines had started it.

“They were up-front; it was military maneuvers,” LaNier said. However, the report raises questions about whether the fire was caused during normal activities, he said.

“If there is a chance they were outside the scope of normal maneuvers. . . . we will try to go after the military or potentially the individuals,” he said.

He said he expects the Forest Service’s legal office to complete its review in 30 to 60 days.