Fires Out, Inferno Still Burns

originally written for the Pima Community College newspaper, appearing on the front page

Now that the Rodeo-Chediski fire has been contained, the fire in the hearts of the people of Arizona's White Mountains still burns.

Firefighter Leonard Gregg is charged with setting the Rodeo fire so that he would have work, while Valinda Elliott, who apparently started the Chediski fire, remains at large. This does not sit well with some of the members of the White Mountain Apache tribe, of which Gregg is a member. They feel that Gregg is being singled out, and that Elliott should be jailed as well.

The circumstances in which each fire was started are very different. According to court documents, Gregg set grass ablaze on June 18 so that he would have a fire to fight, in his capacity as an $8.00 an hour firefighter. Elliott set a signal fire on June 20 so that she and a companion could be rescued after running out of gas.

The two fires merged, eventually creating an inferno that consumed nearly 469,000 acres. The stories of the two alleged fire starters have also merged inextricably, contrasting tales of desperation.

Valinda Elliott feels that she has done nothing wrong. The news helicopter (from KPHO-TV, the Phoenix CBS affiliate) that rescued her did so while the fire she started was only smoking, and she says she was told that a fire-fighting copter was on its way. She has not been charged woith a crime. Officials with the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the U.S. Attorney's office have all declined comment about the investigation of her actions and those of the news crew that rescued her.

Leonard Gregg has pleaded innocent, though the court has denied him bail. He sits in jail, and his relatives have reported that he was fascinated by fires as a youth. Members of his tribe have complained that news coverage has made him seem responsible for both fires, which started on their reservation.

Meanwhile, residents of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation (in which half of the fire burned) and the community of Heber-Overgaard try to get on with their lives, waiting for the wheels of justice to grind, and the comments they have made are not those of people hopeful of a satisfactory resolution.

Show Low Mayor Gene Kelley has heard rumblings of discontent, and is joined by Apache Tribal Chairman Dallas Massey in trying to defuse those rumblings. A CNN report quoted members of both communities as feelings both Gregg and Elliott should be held responsible.

Given the history of relations between the Indians and the local power structure, this situation may well be a powderkeg with explosive potential.