Bend pair jailed for illegal firework that sparked Pilot Butte fire

Two Bend men have been arrested on reckless burning charges for setting off an illegal “mortar”-style firework at Pilot Butte, sparking a wind-fanned 10-acre Fourth of July wildfire that shut down U.S. Highway 20, prompted the evacuation of nearby apartments and burned power lines, cutting power to 27,000 residents, police said Thursday.

Bend police and firefighters were dispatched around 4:50 p.m. Wednesday after a report of a brush fire at the state scenic viewpoint and landmark spot where a professional fireworks display is launched from the summit each Fourth of July.

Lt. Clint Burleigh said Deschutes County 911 got a report that someone heard fireworks one minute before the fire started, and also received descriptions of two vehicles seen leaving the area around the time the blaze began.

The fire caused substantial damage on the east and south lower slopes of the nearly 500-foot lava dome and also ignited spot fires across Highway 20 that crews quickly extinguished. Police evacuated apartments to the east of the butte, while city, Forest Service and Oregon Department of Forestry crews rushed in and were able to stop the fire’s spread within an hour.

Several apartment residents were able to provide “excellent descriptions” of the vehicles and people in the area just before the fire began, Burleigh said. Two residents who “recognized the severity of the situation” either took photos of vehicles leaving the area or had detailed descriptions to provide of the possible culprits, he added.

Investigators learned Brandon Joel Hastings, 38, and Alan Joseph Stout, 29, both of Bend, were at the Pilot Butte trailhead and allegedly set off an illegal “mortar”-style firework, which led to vegetation on the east side of the butte igniting, Burleigh said.

Bend police officers and detectives found Hastings in Redmond just before 10 p.m. He was arrested and lodged at the county jail in Bend, where he remained Thursday on a reckless burning charge and held without bail for a parole violation, records showed.

Hastings was arraigned on the charge Thursday afternoon and a plea hearing was scheduled for July 26.

Detectives found Stout in Bend around 11 a.m. Thursday and he was arrested on charges of first-degree criminal mischief, reckless burning and a felony probation violation, Burleigh said. He was booked into the jail Thursday afternoon.

“Yesterday was a reminder of how dangerous aerial and illegal fireworks can be in our dry and warm Central Oregon climate,” Burleigh said in a news release. “Using legal fireworks in a safe environment can keep our entire community safe.”

A one-count initial charging document, called an “information,” for Hastings filed Thursday shows Hastings is accused of reckless burning, a Class A misdemeanor, for allegedly damaging outbuildings, fencing and public utilities owned by the state park and Pacific Power “by an explosion.” It also shows his last known address as being in Redmond.

Hastings and Amanda Jo Reeves were arrested in a February 2014 raid on their mobile home at Cline Falls Mobile Home Park, west of Redmond, accused in a string of mail, ID and credit card thefts and forgeries around Oregon in the preceding months. He pleaded guilty to seven of the charges in April of that year and was sentenced to two years in prison.

Court records show Stout was arrested in August 2016 on methamphetamine possession and delivery charges. He pleaded guilty to the delivery charge the following month and was sentenced to a 15-month prison term in October 2016 and three years post-prison supervision.