newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — A court case stemming from the expensive 2006 Parks Highway Fire has led to a $400,000 settlement, according to the state of Alaska. The deal releases a property owner who accidentally started the fire from liability.

The state reported Tuesday that it is in line to receive $90,000 of the court-ordered award under the settlement. The money, however, will only partially reimburse the state for its role in fighting the multi-million-dollar wildfire that scorched woods along the highway and destroyed three homes.

In 2006, the state sued the property owner, who sparked the blaze by dumping ashes on his property near Anderson. The fire cost the state $2.9 million to suppress, according to the Alaska Division of Forestry.

Five other parties will also receive money through the settlement, which wrapped up in court late last week, according to the Division of Forestry. They included Toghotthele Native Corp. and four private property owners.

Court documents filed earlier this year identified Thad Kolwicz, a onetime lieutenant colonel in the Alaska Air National Guard, as the man who started the fire. The blaze burned through much of the summer, covering 130,000 acres between Anderson and Nenana. A number of neighborhoods were evacuated, and the resulting legal claims added up to more than $14 million, with the state holding the largest portion because of the cost associated with fighting the fire.

Kolwicz’s insurance company shelved roughly $340,000 following the lawsuit to cover the losses. Anne Nelson, an attorney with the state, said the company ultimately agreed to pay more as part of last week’s settlement agreement. Of that total, the state will see $90,000 and the rest was split between Toghotthele, which serves as a Native corporation for Nenana, and four private property owners, she said.

Nelson said the state is happy the case didn’t have to go to trial.

“The take-home message is that human-caused wildfires are very costly and present a great risk to those who live in the wildland-urban interface,” she said.

The state estimates that 85 percent of the fires its firefighters respond to are caused by humans.

Most occur in populated areas with significant damage potential.

An attorney for Toghotthele could not be reached Wednesday. An attorney for Kolwicz declined to comment.

In addition to three homes, the fire also burned 14 outbuildings, said Lynn Wilcock, a spokesman for the Division of Forestry.