Reporter for The Canyon Weekly
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has been given until March 11 to respond to a $33 million federal lawsuit by Freres Engineered Wood over the 2020 Santiam Fire.
The defendant was served with notice of the suit Jan. 11, according to a Feb. 2 affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene, and was given two months to respond.
Parties will have until May 3 to complete discovery including depositions and evidence requests, according to a trial order signed by Chief District Judge Michael McShane. Then on June 3, if parties have not reached out out-of-court resolution, they are to submit proposed guidelines and timetables for a trial.
The fire destroyed nearly a third of Freres’ local timber holdings and the company claims USFS negligently failed to deploy firefighting resources in a timely or adequate manner.
