Error Played Role in Blaze, Officials Allege

Local fire officials are accusing the California Department of Forestry of dragging its feet on a probe into the cause of the 14,500-acre Martis forest fire east of here.

Truckee Fire Protection District Chief Mike Terwilliger and North Tahoe Fire Protection District Division Chief Bryce Keller said they wonder if state fire officials are trying to cover up a mistake.

Terwilliger said he’s convinced the June 17 fire grew out of a small blaze near Hirschdale that state crews extinguished the day before but later failed to inspect.

Fire officials have said the Martis fire broke out about an hour before state crews were due to inspect the site.

The Martis fire destroyed a mobile home, cabin and three vehicles, and threatened hundreds of homes in the Reno, Nev., area until it was contained July 1.

It shut down Interstate 80 and a rail line the first day. It cost about $18.5 million to suppress.

“In my mind, if they’d gone back and checked the [small] fire later that day and the next day, this fire would not have happened,” Terwilliger told the Tahoe World newspaper in Tahoe City.

State fire investigators have ruled out a link between the Martis fire and a marijuana cultivation operation, the World reported.

Tony Clarabut, a unit chief, said a hectic fire season and the complexity of the case have prolonged the investigation, but he expects the report to be released this week. He declined to comment on allegations concerning the origins of the Martis fire.

Doug Rinella, battalion chief for the state’s Truckee unit, said his crew had plans to check the small fire the day after it was extinguished. The small blaze grew out of an escaped campfire.

“We got diverted. Our intentions were to go out there before lunch Sunday, but we decided to go out after lunch Sunday,” he said.

Terwilliger said state crews should have inspected the site at least twice before the Martis fire erupted at 12:04 p.m. that Sunday.

“There’s something that happened that distracted them. . . . It fell through the cracks,” he said.