Lawsuit seeks $103M from public utilities over wildfire
May 14, 2021
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) A lawsuit filed on behalf of 70 landowners in Oregon’s McKenzie River Valley seeks $103 million from Lane Electric Cooperative and Eugene Water and Electric Board for damages linked to one of the Labor Day fires that ravaged communities around the state.
The Holiday Farm fire killed one person and destroyed 430 homes, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The plaintiffs contend that the two utilities failed to de-energize their power lines despite widespread forecasts for extreme fire weather.
An official cause of the fire hasn t been released, but the lawsuit says fires started when tree branches contacted power lines east of Eugene.
Lawsuit seeks $103 million in damages from two public utilities stemming from Holiday Farm wildfire
Updated 3:24 PM;
Today 2:11 PM
An aerial view of the town of Blue River, OR on Oct. 6, 2020 after the Holiday Farm Fire. Photo courtesy of @TripJenningsVideo@tripjenningsvideo
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A lawsuit filed on behalf of 70 landowners in the McKenzie River Valley seeks $103 million from two public utilities, Lane Electric Cooperative and Eugene Water & Electric Board, for damages arising from the Holiday Farm Fire, one of the Labor Day conflagrations that ravaged communities around the state.
The Holiday Farm fire destroyed 430 homes, killed one person and burned 173,393 acres. The plaintiffs contend that the two utilities failed to de-energize their power lines despite Red Flag warnings and widespread forecasts for extreme fire weather, including an historic east wind event, single digit humidity levels and an ongoing drought.
Watch Bahamas & Greensky Bluegrass Perform ‘Live To Tape’
May 9, 2021
Afie Jurvanen) premiered his latest “Live To Tape” episode featuring Greensky Bluegrass. As with past installments, Bahamas collaborated remotely from Halifax, Nova Scotia with GSBG assembled at Echo Mountain Recording in Asheville, North Carolina.
The recording appears to have occurred in March when Greensky Bluegrass also livestreamed a performance at Echo Mountain for
Echo Sessions that saw that band cover Bahamas’ song “Waves.” The “Live To Tape” episode opened with “Waves,” which appeared on the 2014 album,
Bahamas Is Afie. Next came “Opening Act” from Bahamas’ 2018 album,
Earthtones, “Bitter Memories” from
Pink Strat.
The spring is believed to be the work of two early developers from Jacksonville, Florida.
“They created the Echo Mountain subdivision,” said Town Council member Paul Hansen. It was the first subdivision up the mountain after town founder W.A. Smith developed springs, lakes and other amenities in lower Laurel Park.
John H. Patterson built the large home that became the Echo Mountain Inn as a summer residence around 1896. The property has changed hands numerous times since Patterson built his summer retreat, serving as a tea room, a camp for girls and, since 1935, an inn. The Echo Mountain subdivision came 16 years after Patterson first arrived, when he and a partner named Ives laid out the lots.
NationofChange
Drinking water should be assumed to be chemically unsafe until proven otherwise.
More than 58,000 fires scorched the United States last year, and 2021 is on track to be even drier. What many people donât realize is that these wildfires can do lasting damage beyond the reach of the flamesâthey can contaminate entire drinking water systems with carcinogens that last for months after the blaze. That water flows to homes, contaminating the plumbing, too.
Over the past four years, wildfires have contaminated drinking water distribution networks and building plumbing for more than 240,000 people.
Small water systems serving housing developments, mobile home parks, businesses and small towns have been particularly hard-hit. Most didnât realize their water was unsafe until weeks to months after the fire.