HOOD RIVER -- The bill for restitution came to $36,631,687.10 but it's not clear how much a Vancouver teenager will have to pay for sparking last year's massive Eagle Creek fire that changed the landscape in the Columbia River Gorge.
The lawyer for the 15-year-old called the staggering amount -- submitted in 11 requests to the court -- "absurd" and "absolutely silly."
Hood River County Circuit Judge John A. Olson said Thursday that he needed time to review the request and would make a ruling in writing, possibly by Friday, on the teen's liability.
From his review of other juvenile restitution cases in Oregon, the judge said the largest amount he could find until now was for $114,000.
"It is an extraordinary amount of restitution being sought,'' Olson said. "It is an extraordinary loss.''
The teen admitted in February to throwing fireworks in Eagle Creek Canyon on Sept. 2. One ignited dry bush and triggered a fire that burned 49,000 acres.
His lawyer Jack Morris challenged the constitutionality of juvenile restitution on state, federal and policy grounds. He urged the judge to impose a "reasonable and rational'' amount.
Ordering a teenager without any money to pay more than $36 million "frankly is on its face absurd,'' Morris said. He criticized the state's restitution law for removing any discretion from a judge, particularly in a juvenile case, calling it "cruel and unusual punishment'' akin to mandatory minimum sentences for crimes under Measure 11.
Hood River County District Attorney John Sewell dismissed what he called Morris' rant about Measure 11 and countered that state law does give the judge some leeway, such as halting payments after 10 years if the teen stays out of trouble or deciding not to garnishee wages.
"There's protections for youth down the road,'' Sewell said. "It's not as draconian and absolutist as defense argues.''
Neither the 15-year-old nor his parents attended the hearing. Morris said he was concerned about the boy's safety. About a dozen people, mostly media, were present.
The restitution covers costs of firefighting, repair and restoration to the gorge and damage to homes.
The U.S. Forest Service is seeking $21,113,755 in payments; the Oregon Department of Transportation, $12.5 million; the Oregon State Fire Marshal, $1.6 million; Union Pacific Railroad, $1,048, 877.52, the Trail Club Oregon, $168,000; and Oregon State Parks, $31,550.90.
The other requests for restitution are: Heuker Properties, $100,000; Allstate Insurance, $8,111.44; and several from people who appear to be private property owners, Anne Coxen, $8,793.14; Iris Schenk, whose Warrendale house burned down, $5,000; and Amanda Rosenkoetter, $4,563.72.
The 15-year-old admitted to eight counts of reckless burning of public and private property, two counts of depositing burning material on forest land, one count of second-degree mischief and one count of recklessly endangering hikers.
He was sentenced to five years of probation and 1,920 hours of community service with the U.S. Forest Service. He also was ordered to write apology letters to 152 people trapped on the Eagle Creek trail because of the spreading flames, the city of Cascade Locks, the Forest Service, Oregon State Parks, the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission and many others.
"I get to look at torched Angel's Rest every day. It will never be the same," gorge resident Paul Smith said at the courthouse before the hearing. "You can't financially quantify the damage he's done.''
Smith had to be evacuated in the early morning hours of Labor Day from his seven-acre farm in Washington across the river from the rocky bluff, a popular hiking destination. He moved out his horses and eventually had to put down his 32-year-old mare after she fell in a trailer.
Smith said he's disappointed the teen isn't serving any time in custody. "I was raised there are consequences for your actions," he said.
The fire began about 4 p.m. on an unseasonably hot Saturday of the Labor Day holiday weekend. Witnesses reported seeing the teen throwing fireworks into the canyon.
The teenager admitted throwing one firework that exploded in the air along the trail and a second one that had a longer fuse and ignited brush when it hit the ground. The flames spread rapidly, fueled by gusting winds and tinder dry forest conditions.
Morris urged the court to recognize the "impulsivity of kids'' and their inability to make rational decisions.
Throwing the fireworks by his client was a "single stupid act,'' he said.
"It's a 15-year-old boy who did something incredibly stupid that none of us could have imagined,'' Morris said.
In court in February, the teen read a statement, saying he "apologized with all my heart'' and pledged to help rebuild the community in any way he could. One of his lawyers read a statement from his parents, who emigrated from the Odessa region of Ukraine in 2000. They said their son will work to help rebuild the gorge.
The district attorney has emphasized that he found no evidence that the teenager intentionally set the blaze.
The teen, who was charged as a juvenile, has been identified in court only by his initials, A.B.
The judge is obligated under state law to order that the teen pay the full amount of restitution, though it will be virtually impossible for him to earn that kind of money in his lifetime. The restitution is solely against the teen, not his parents.
The law allows the Oregon Department of Revenue to garnish the teen's bank accounts or paychecks. If he's due refunds on his tax returns, the state could take those. If he wins the lottery, the state also could collect all of his winnings.
Thursday's hearing likely isn't the end of damage claims in the fire, which torched some of the most beloved trails and views in the Columbia River Gorge, closed businesses, displaced people for days and shut down Interstate 84 and the Historic Columbia River Highway.
Separately, the federal, state or local agencies affected by the fire and private homeowners or businesses could file civil lawsuits against the teen's parents. Under Oregon law, parents can be held liable for up to $7,500 in damages to a person or property caused by their child's recklessness.
Attorneys contacted by The Oregonian/OregonLive said that could mean that any of the thousands of people who suffered losses in the fire could seek $7,500 apiece from the parents.
Jeff Bonebrake, investigator and cost recovery coordinator for the Oregon Department of Forestry, said his agency usually doesn't ask for a lot or get a lot of money through restitution in criminal court but recovers costs regularly through the civil process.
The department first issues a demand, then must wait at least 120 days before filing a civil suit to recover costs. The suits sometimes lead those liable to pay the amounts outright or they negotiate a settlement.
The state has recovered substantial amounts in juvenile fire-setting cases, sometimes through a homeowner's liability insurance, he said. But the agency must weigh the costs of pursuing a civil case with the chances of ever recovering the money.
"We want to hold people accountable when it's justifiable,'' Bonebrake said.
Jim Ryan of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.
-- Maxine Bernstein
mbernstein@oregonian.com
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian