Nelson on burn boss arrest

HEPPNER – Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson is watching to see how the arrest of a U.S. Forest Service burn boss in Grant County plays out in the courts. Rick Snodgrass was arrested by Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley when a controlled burn got out of control and burned 20 to 40 acres of private land.

“My family owns property out at Penland Lake up in the mountains and I own farm property myself and you worry a lot about burns,” Nelson said. “It’s easy for a controlled burn to become an uncontrolled wildfire. I do trust the work of the Oregon Department of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service. I know the folks that work in our Heppner office here and they are some of the most professionally skilled firefighters that I know.”

As a district attorney, Nelson says he will be watching Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter on this case.

“It’ll be interesting to see what the Grant County district attorney does when he reviews the case,” Nelson said. “Does he file charges on him? If so, what type of charges? It will also be very interesting to see the response from the federal government in this case.”

While the USFS has not issued a response to the arrest to media, Chief Randy Moore did email his employees that he considers the arrest highly inappropriate and will fully defend the burn boss and all employees.

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