Miller's Reach verdict in

PALMER -- After listening to seven weeks of testimony, it took the jury less than five hours to dismiss allegations that state of Alaska Division of Forestry firefighters were negligent in their handling of the Miller's Reach Fire of 1996.

Their verdict was read by Superior Court John Reese Wednesday afternoon in front of a courtroom packed full with Big Lake area property owners and Forestry personnel. Prior to the reading of the verdict the plaintiffs had passed the word that there should be no vocal reaction in the court room. They sat silent as the one-word verdict was read.

Some talked to reporters afterward.

"Unbelievable," Ardith "Ardi" Kleinenberg said.

Kleinenberg, along with her husband, used to own the Klondike Inn, on the north east shore of Big Lake. The Kleinenbergs' business was burned downed and re-built. But the new business came with an increased debt load and a decrease in customers. The Kleinenbergs' corporation went bankrupt in 2001.

Kleinenberg sat through nearly every minute of the seven-week-long civil suit. She took copious notes. She reacted with chuckles at lighter moments in the trial, with nods when witnesses she approved of spoke and with quiet, almost lip-biting, disapproval when she didn't think a witness from Forestry was being truthful.

The plaintiff's case was mostly based on the idea that Forestry personnel ignored several basic rules of firefighting in the 27 hours leading up to the escape of the fire on June 3, 1996. Kleinenberg bought into the theory from the start and the trial -- with attorneys trotting out Forestry manuals showing firefighting practices -- seems to have only reinforced her belief that Forestry workers failed to follow their own rules.

"[Forestry] sent home everybody they had and they left behind all of their training," Kleinenberg said.

Plaintiff's attorneys compiled lists of rules from training manuals used by Forestry and from a document called the "Handy-Dandy Alaska Fire Suppression Field Handbook." Throughout the trial the field handbook was referred to by its nick-name "The Handy-Dandy."

The field book is updated annually for new radio frequencies and contains information as varied as emergency equipment rental procedures, first aid techniques and what to expect from specific fuel types, such as the black spruce grove where the Miller's Reach Fire blew up and away. The plaintiffs wanted the jurors to find that guidelines in the Handy-Dandy were rules and that the rules should have been strictly followed, especially because the fire was burning in a populated area.

"This was not a wildland fire, it was an urban-wildland interface fire," attorney John Hinderacker reminded the jury in his closing arguments this week. "It was foreseeable that if the fire escaped it would burn down businesses and homes and threaten people's lives."

Hinderacker also argued in court that Forestry personnel tried to cover up their negligence by exaggerating the wind's effects on the fire, by threatening an employee who spoke against Forestry, and even doctoring radio logs that provided a record of firefighting activities on June 3.

Three Forestry workers testified that their notebooks were burned in the fire but the radio allegations were supported only by testimony from people with suspicions, and by the fact that three pages in the record were not originals but Xerox copies Forestry workers testified were copies of the original pages.

State firefighters felt vindicated after the trial but allegations of a cover-up, of bullying and of making up a story about the wind still sting.

"More than anything, that was worse than any allegations of bad firefighting practices," Norman McDonald said.

McDonald, like Kleinenberg, sat through nearly seven weeks of testimony. He missed three days in order to attend a class in helicopter firefighting operations. He also worked the Miller's Reach Fire as a crew boss for Forestry's Mat-Su crew. He was subpoenaed by the plaintiffs to testify and tried not to help their case.

McDonald was listening on Tuesday while Hinderacker summed up the plaintiff's case in his closing arguments.

"It's ridiculous for Forestry to walk away from the Handy-Dandy and then still continue to pass it out to every one of their firefighters," Hinderacker told the jury.

Forestry witnesses described the Handy-Dandy as a "guide" and not a book of rules.

"To put out fires, you use training and experience," McDonald said after the trial. "… These guys were trying to make it look like a recipe book. Add two firefighters and some lengths of hose. You shake it, and it's out."

On June 3, 1996, many local volunteer firefighters were dismayed when Forestry's incident commander Mark Bertels made the decision to evacuate Miller's Reach Road. That call put locals on "code green' literally waiting for instructions at their fire halls while they watched the fire build in the distance. Fifteen minutes later Bertels called for a larger evacuation of Big Lake area neighborhoods which led to firefighters knocking on doors instead of fighting fire.

"One thing I'm sure of is that making that call saved lives," McDonald said. "That fire had spotted over Miller's Reach Road when it was still a quarter mile away from the road."

Forestry firefighter Tom Grieling agreed. Had it not been for the evacuation, Grieling said, a different trial might have taken place.

"We'd still be in court today," Grieling said "…but it would be over fatalities. We'd be in court and put to blame for fatalities."