A Wasco County couple is suing Union Pacific Railroad for allegedly starting the Rowena Fire that destroyed over 50 homes outside The Dalles this month.
A legal complaint filed in district court Monday says “several eyewitnesses” saw sparks coming from a Union Pacific locomotive, sparking flames in nearby brush.
A California-based law firm, Singleton Schreiber, is representing Ramon Garza Nino and Maria Carrera in the case. Attorney Gerald Singleton said his firm’s investigator visited the Rowena area, interviewed witnesses and reviewed social media posts about the fire.
“We don’t have conclusive evidence, but the evidence we have points toward the railroads starting to fire,” Singleton told OPB Wednesday.
Singleton hopes to find more evidence as his firm obtains documents from Union Pacific, such as maintenance records and internal communications, through the legal process of discovery.
“If it turns out that we’re wrong, then obviously the case will be dismissed,” Singleton said. “But based on everything we’ve seen, this does appear to have been caused by the train.”
The Oregon Department of Forestry is investigating the cause of the fire, a process that could take months or years.
In a statement, a Union Pacific spokesperson said the company is also conducting an internal investigation. So far, it hasn’t found evidence linking its rails to the fire.
“No official cause for the fire has been released, and Union Pacific is fully cooperating with state investigators,” the statement reads.
The Singleton Schreiber law firm is fairly new to working in Oregon. It has so far worked with survivors of the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire in Lane County.
The firm also represented people affected by the 2023 Tunnel 5 Fire in Skamania County, Washington. A state investigation tied that fire to train sparks.
In recent years, electrical utilities like PacifiCorp and Pacific Gas & Electric have been at the center of many wildfire lawsuits — some of which were brought by Singleton’s firm. Train-sparked wildfires have been less common.
Singleton said he anticipates filing more complaints for additional people who were harmed by the Rowena Fire.
“My guess is you’re going to have probably somewhere between 100 and 150 cases that are filed,” Singleton said. “We may represent a significant number, we may represent a few dozen. Who knows? But we’re certainly prepared for that.”
