The Curry County Sheriff’s Office received a call from the U.S. Forest Service out of Medford just after 1:45pm Monday afternoon, July 25th, reporting active fires near or at the Rogue River Ranch and Mariel Lodge in Mariel, Or., a location in the far northeast portion of Curry County only accessible either by river or Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management roads.
The information was relayed by radio from a Bureau of Land Management employee who was in the area of the fires at the time and had reported that a white male adult was seen walking along the gravel road that leads towards Mariel Lodge and Rogue River Ranch, starting fires.
Curry County Dispatch under direction of the Sheriff, notified Coos Forest Patrol, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Josephine County Sheriff’s Office, Douglass County Sheriff’s Office and the S.W. Oregon Department of Forestry asking for assistance in extinguishing the fires and locating the suspect, and all mentioned firefighting and law enforcement agencies immediately responded to the area with a description of the suspect.
Information provided by a witness on scene was that there were two separate fires. Three helicopters were dispatched by the Oregon Department Forestry while ground crews including residents of the area quickly got the two fires under control and contained.
Meanwhile, three local residents of that area located the suspect walking on the roadway near the fires and detained him until law enforcement arrived on scene. It was reported that the suspect became very combative with the three residents and had to be tied to a tree to subdue him.
After an ambulance crew was requested to respond due to some injuries that the suspect apparently received from ‘falling down’, Bureau of Land Managemen Law Enforcement arrived and at the request of the Curry County Sheriff’s Office, and arrested the suspect identified as 32 year old Trennon Smith from Veneta, Or.
The total area burnt was less than one acre, however, had the fires not been contained, or had they gotten out of control, they could have blocked all the residents and visitors from having an escape route. The cooperation and partnership between all agencies and quick actions getting the fires out most certainly averted a catastrophe and saved lives.
Smith was transported to Three Rivers Hospital in Grants Pass, and once he was medically cleared, was transported by U.S. Forest Service law enforcement to the Curry County Jail and lodged on Arson in the First-Degree, and Reckless Burning and also had a Detention Warrant out of Lane County for probation violation.
The Curry County Sheriff’s Office will continue to investigate this matter and all information will be provided to the Curry County District Attorney, who may be working with the Federal agencies on this case.
