Civil suit could help to heal community

Frontiersman Editorial Board

Dreadful things happened in Big Lake during the 1996 Miller's Reach Fire. Families lost everything they owned. Business owners watched, helpless, as their livelihood went up in flames, or they returned after being evacuated to find an ashen shell. And the stories of misconduct, inappropriate behavior and miscommunication by officials overseeing the fire response that have carried on long after the homes were rebuilt and evidence of the fire disappeared under new growth have only served to deepen the wound.

After the fire, community members held meetings and discussed the fire, the state's response and their feelings that they had been done a disservice. And, like adding logs to the flame, their feelings of injustice simmered and popped -- and simply wouldn't go away. For the past six years, the conversation has persisted in the community.

Neighbors helped each other recover from the fire, provided a listening ear and, ultimately, stoked those feelings of betrayal. In restaurants, bars, aisles of the grocery store and over the counter at the gas station, the conversation continued.

Now, at long last, there's a chance to bring the rumors, evidence and sense of injustice to a head, put it on the table and allow the justice system to evaluate the pieces. It's time for the state to open their logs and explain exactly what happened and why, time for community members to state their case and, finally, time for a decision to be made that could allow that wound to be, at long last, stitched closed.

The witnesses, attorneys, jurors and judge have a weighty task ahead of them. They're being asked to thoroughly examine a 27-hour window of time in which some believe the fire could have been stopped before it became what some call today one of the worst fires in Alaska's history. But more than that, they're being asked to present, examine and weigh the accuracy of six years' worth of hindsight on both sides of the issue -- to decide, ultimately, whether the grief and loss Big Lake residents went through, and still feel today, could have been prevented.

Whatever way the decision goes, the outcome is likely to be anticlimactic. If the state is found to be at fault and those feelings of dismay are justified, will participants in the lawsuit be relieved? And if the court determines the state acted properly, will that close this chapter of the Valley's history?

Maybe the most important decision that can be made as a result of this case is to put the emotional turmoil to bed and, as a community, move forward.