Inspector general finds no fault with Forest Service workers in deaths of 5 firefighters

Report: No fault with forest workers in fatal fire

WASHINGTON — Federal investigators have found no misconduct by U.S. Forest Service personnel in the deaths of five firefighters in a massive 2006 California wildfire.

Under federal law, the inspector general for the Department of Agriculture is required to investigate the death of any U.S. Forest Service firefighter entrapped by a wildfire. The IG’s report doesn’t find fault with fire personnel for the deaths.

The blaze swept through valleys and mountains about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. Ultimately, the fire destroyed 34 homes and blackened nearly 70 square miles. The five U.S. Forest Service firefighters were killed while attempting to protect an unoccupied house.

The man who started the fire, a serial arsonist named Raymond Lee Oyler, has been sentenced to death.