U.S. and Utah sue Scouts

State and federal attorneys are seeking to recover $14 million from the Great Salt Lake Council of the Boy Scouts of America in connection with a forest fire that scorched more than 14,000 acres in the Uinta Mountains.

The U.S. Attorney's Office and Utah Attorney General's Office filed separate lawsuits Tuesday, which allege a group of Boy Scouts caused the East Fork Fire in June 2002 after failing to take proper fire precautions.

The suits, which give one side of a legal argument, are seeking to cover the cost of fighting the fire and rehabilitating the land. Utah law requires those responsible for starting a wildfire to pay the cost of extinguishing it.

Kay Godfrey, information officer for the Great Salt Lake Council, said Tuesday afternoon he had not seen either suit and had no immediate comment.

The lawsuits claim a group of about 20 Scouts did not extinguish a campfire at the East Fork of the Bear Scout Reservation summer camp facility in Summit County when they broke camp on the morning of June 28, 2002, allegedly causing a wildfire that burned state, federal and private land.

The suits also claim the Boy Scouts breached their state lease for the land by violating a fire restriction order. The lease states GLSC-BSA is liable for any fire-suppression damages, the suits said.

Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said the suits were a result of failed negotiation with the Boy Scouts. "We felt like we have been very patient in trying to work with them and negotiate with them," Rydalch said. "If we don't recover it, the taxpayer is left footing the bill."

The federal suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, seeks to recover $13,344,320 for firefighting and rehabilitation. The state suit, filed in Summit County, asks for $606,424 in firefighting expenses.

The Scouts were camping to fulfill an overnight camping requirement for a wilderness survival merit badge program. A fire-restriction order, prohibiting all open fires except in designated facilities, was in effect at the time.

According to the suits, the Scouts "started multiple fires in the ignition area. Because the wilderness survival campout had to be conducted away from improved campgrounds in a wilderness area, the fires were started outside improved fire facilities in violation of the fire-restriction order."

The suits allege the 15-year-old counselors who supervised the younger Scouts were aware of the burn restriction but allowed the fires to be built, then left the Scouts — and fires — unattended overnight. The suits claim the forest fire was spotted about 1:30 p.m. on June 28, after the Scouts had left the area.

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