ELK, Wash. — The Elk community is frustrated after the Department of Natural Resources found no definitive cause for the Oregon Road Fire.
“I’m just, I’m so angry,” Kelcene Dodd, who her and her father both lost homes in the fire, said. “My dad’s lost everything.”
According to the DNR investigation, spontaneous combustion on someone’s property sparked the flames that led to the destruction of thousands of acres.
READ: Spontaneous combustion blamed for devastating Oregon Road fire; exact cause unknown
Fire investigators say the property owner told conflicting stories of embers falling into his yard before the fire started.
The person who owns the property where the fire started told investigators that embers originally came from a nearby road to the east. But the wind was pushing flames in the opposite direction.
As Sheryl Green walks around what used to be her home, she says it is all still very raw for her.
To this day, she struggles. Her third-story house used to overlook the neighborhood. Now, there’s nothing but ash, charred trees and the vire of her neighbors’ burned-down homes.