Reality Check is a Bee series holding officials and organizations accountable and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email [email protected].
Filed court transcripts show an Oregon-based timber company was aware that previous fires in a giant wooden warehouse at one of its facilities would cause them to lose a negligence case after a 2022 fire ripped through a small town in Northern California, killing two women and destroying numerous homes.
The September 2022 Mill Fire started at the Roseburg Forest Products Co. lumber mill in the town of Weed in Siskiyou County. Investigators determined the fire, which spread rapidly to destroy 144 buildings and burn 3,939 acres or 6 square miles, was caused by mill operations at the Roseburg facility, Cal Fire officials announced in a June 16, 2023, news release…