OKANOGAN COUNTY, Wash. -- After two historic wildfire seasons, the residents in the heart of Carlton Complex destruction have brought a lawsuit against the Department of Natural Resources.
In 2014, the Carlton Complex burned a quarter million acres in Okanogan County. The Okanogan Complex of 2015 leveled roughly 133,000, and took the lives of three firefighters.
The suit was gathered by 230 families, who claimed crews negligently allowed the Carlton Complex -- which started on state land -- to spread. It ultimately consumed hundreds of homes, damage residents said DNR did not do enough to prevent.
"It's on the basis of being a neighbor, you let the fire spread to our property, and you didn't control it," said attorney Alex Thomason.
Thomason said he has spent almost a year and a half building the case against Washington's DNR.
"We expect the court to find them liable, a jury to find them culpable, and to make them pay for those damages," said Thomason.
The lawsuit was filed in Olympia Tuesday on behalf of three neighbors in particular. They lived next to the DNR land where the Golden Hike lightning strike started a small spot fire -- one that would grow exponentially, merge with three other fires and become the historic complex.
"The point of a fire is you can control it when it's small. It is not able to be controlled when it's large. The basis of our claim is not, 'Oh, look how big it got! It's that it was so small. Why did you wait for three days?'
Washington's Attorney General has 20 days to file an answer to the lawsuit before the discovery phase begins. It could be up to two years before it finally goes to trial.
Thomason said he plans to file on behalf of the other families soon, but it is this first lawsuit that is pivotal for Okanogan.
"This could be a great turn of events for our county. Or, if we lose, it could be a horrible turn down the wrong road," said Thomason.
Either way, he said he sees the lawsuit bringing attention where it is needed.
"This lawsuit, without a doubt, has created pressure and accountability," said Thomason. "There's a sense of fear and foreboding about what does this hold for the future. Because if we don't change how the state manages state-owned property, if we don't change how the state responds to state fires, next year is going to be the three-peat. Why would we have to suffer through that?"
