Lumber company to pay $200K settlement over El Dorado County wildfire
Sierra Pacific Industries agreed to pay more than $200,000 in damages over a 2021 wildfire that started on the company's land, the United States Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of California said Thursday.
On Jan. 19, 2021, a fire began in a timber slush pile, U.S. Forest Service investigators found, that 'escaped containment' during a windy weather event in El Dorado County. The fire — which was known as the Cold Fire — sparked on Sierra Pacific Industries' land and burned 29 acres, including land in the Eldorado National Forest.
'Our office will continue to hold individuals and corporations responsible for damages caused by wildfires,' Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith said in a statement. 'Every fire impacting federal lands, no matter the size, is a priority.'
The lumber company, which is based in Anderson (Shasta County), settled with the federal government's claims, but there was 'no determination of liability,' the attorney's office said.
'These settlements are essential in restoring our landscapes after wildfires,' said U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Acting Regional Forest Jason Kuiken in a statement.
Sierra Pacific Industries is one of the largest timber companies in the United States, the company's website said, and owns and manages more than 2.4 million acres in California, Oregon and Washington. The company also sells windows and produces renewable energy.
'SPI is committed to managing its lands in a responsible and sustainable manner to protect the environment while providing quality wood products and renewable power for consumers,' the company's website said. 'To SPI, sustainable forest management means more than just planting trees.'
Sierra Pacific Industries did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Wire
7 days ago
- Business Wire
AFYREN: Availability of Preparatory Documents for the Combined General Meeting on June 17, 2025
CLERMONT-FERRAND, France & LYON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News: AFYREN (Paris:ALAFY), a greentech company offering industrial customers bio-based, low-carbon products through its unique fermentation technology based on a circular model, today announced its Combined General Meeting will be held Tuesday, June 17, 2025, at 3:30 pm CEST, at the Company's office: Le Silex2 - City, 9 rue des Cuirassiers - 69003 Lyon. The preparatory documents for this General Meeting are available on the Company's website, in the Documentation / General Meetings section. The text of the resolutions was published in the meeting notice, published in the ' Bulletin des Annonces Légales Obligatoires ' (BALO) No. 57 of May 12, 2025. To submit their votes, shareholders may, in accordance with the procedures described in the meeting notice published in the BALO on May 12, 2025: attend the Meeting in person; vote by internet via the secure voting platform VOTACCESS; vote by mail; give proxy to the Chairman of the Meeting or to any other person of their choice. About AFYREN AFYREN is a French greentech company, founded in 2012, focused on providing innovative, sustainable solutions to reduce reliance on fossil-based resources. AFYREN's proprietary, nature-inspired fermentation technology valorizes local biomass from non-food agricultural co-products to produce 100% biobased, low-carbon carboxylic acids. The company's sustainable solutions address decarbonization challenges in a wide variety of strategic sectors, including human and animal nutrition, flavors and fragrances, life sciences, materials science, plus lubricants and technical fluids. AFYREN's competitive, plug-and-play, circular technology enables manufacturers to adopt sustainable solutions without modifying production processes. The company's first industrial plant, AFYREN NEOXY, a joint venture with Bpifrance's SPI fund, is based in the Grand-Est region of France, serving primarily the European market. AFYREN is also pursuing a project in Thailand with a global leader in the sugar industry and is building its presence in the Americas, based on existing distribution agreements. At the end of 2024, AFYREN employed 130 people across sites in Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand and Carling Saint-Avold. Committed to continuous innovation, the company invests 20% of its annual budget in R&D to further develop the range of sustainable solutions. AFYREN is listed on Euronext Growth ® Paris since 2021 (ISIN code: FR0014005AC9, ticker: ALAFY).
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Northwest Florida sisters sentenced to federal prison for embezzling over $844k from local business
PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) — Two sisters convicted of charges stemming from embezzling their employer's money face time in federal prison. Truck and dump truck crash head-on in Mobile; man critically injured According to a news release from the United States Attorney's Office Northern District of Florida, Kimberly Lovitt, 52, of Pace, was sentenced to 36 months, while her sister, Amy Williams, 46, of Milton, was sentenced to 18 months. The two were convicted of wire fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns, the release said. 'Abuse of trust, embezzlement and tax evasion warrant significant criminal consequences,' Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Michelle Spaven said. 'The defendants' years-long theft from their employer and the extreme efforts to conceal their criminal proceeds are both illegal and offensive to all hardworking Americans, especially those who own and operate local businesses. 'It is fitting and proper that they are not only incarcerated, but that they pay restitution and unpaid taxes for their criminal conduct.' According to the release, the embezzlement began in 2016 and continued until 2021. During that time, Lovitt conspired with Williams to embezzle more than $844,000 from their employer, a locally owned business in Pensacola. Lovitt was the office manager, and Williams was the receptionist, the release said. The two used their positions to steal money from the business by using corporate credit cards for unauthorized personal purchases, the release said. Lovitt used her position to create false documentation and manipulate accounting records to cover up their crime. She also failed to report the embezzled money as income on her federal income taxes, the release said. 'The defendants' theft through embezzlement caused great financial strain on their employer and put other employees' jobs at risk,' Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge at the Tampa Field Office, said. 'The sentencings today serve as an example of what individuals can expect when they lie, cheat and steal and then try to hide the ill-gotten gains from the IRS.' Gulf Shores makes history with first-ever commercial flight to Alabama's beaches The Emerald Coast Financial Crimes Task Force, which included officers from the Pensacola Police Department and agents from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation unit, investigated the case, which Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Tharp then prosecuted. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
US Attorney's Office files to recover $6.7M stolen in scam against City of Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — After the City of Portland was targeted by a $6.7 million fraud scheme earlier this year, the United States Attorney's Office has announced it is taking action to return the lost funds. According to the City of Portland, they originally became aware of the scam back in February, when someone posing as a contracted employee with the city gained access to a payment system, then rerouted the contractor's bank information to the scam account. Portland city workers avert strike after reaching tentative agreement The USAO said the city then notified law enforcement in March when the contractor's intended payment – which was set aside for use in the Bull Run Filtration Project – instead went to an unauthorized bank account. Initially, the city filed a lawsuit against a New York law firm whose account held the deposited funds, Portland officials said. According to that suit, a man going by the alias John Lisman allegedly fraudulently presented himself as a vendor for the Bull Run Filtration Project and manipulated city officials into rerouting the $6.7 million. However, the lawsuit was dropped after the law firm provided information supporting that they were also a victim, according to the city. 'Ongoing security concerns' spark closure of West Burnside burger joint On April 16, the USAO and FBI obtained a search warrant and officials successfully seized the funds, which were then placed in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, USAO said. Now, USAO announced Friday they have filed a civil forfeiture action to recover the funds alleged to be the proceeds from the fraud scheme. They add this will 'allow the government to move quickly to seize the stolen funds, seek legal ownership of them, then promptly return them to the victims.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
