A pickup belonging to an organizer against nitrate pollution in Eastern Oregon burned at a Boardman home Monday, Nov. 27, shortly after three state legislators visited the home as a part of a tour.
The Boardman Fire Rescue District considers the fire “suspicious” but closed its investigation without determining a cause. Boardman Fire Chief Michael Hughes said the fire fully engulfed the vehicle and burned to the point there was no way to determine if the cause was accidental or intentional.
No one was injured by the fire, nor did the fire spread beyond the vehicle before firefighters extinguished it.
Oregon Rural Action, a group based out of La Grande that has been active in pushing state officials to address decades of groundwater pollution in Morrow and Umatilla counties, announced the fire in a press release. The group called on local and state authorities to fully investigate the fire and protect its employees.
“The fact that this truck appears to have been intentionally set on fire at the very time we were hosting a delegation of Oregon legislators makes this incident extremely concerning,” Kristin Ostrom, the nonprofit’s executive director, said.
During the past year, the group has hosted prominent officials, including U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley and Gov. Tina Kotek in Boardman for tours and community meetings about pollution.
Oregon Rural Action coordinated a similar event Nov. 27, this time inviting three state representatives from the Legislature’s BIPOC caucus. In an interview, Ostrom said Oregon Rural Action organizer Rafael Romero drove his pickup to fellow organizer Ana Maria Rodriguez’s home near Boardman to film a promotional video for social media.
The video features his pickup in the background, which has magnets attached to its doors encouraging residents to get their well water tested for nitrates. Romero left his pickup at Rodriguez’s home while he helped host the legislators at the Blue Mountain Community College during the afternoon.
The tour would eventually take the legislators to Rodriguez’s home, where she explained how her own well’s high nitrate levels affected her family’s drinking water. The legislators were back at the college holding a series of meetings when Oregon Rural Action learned the pickup was on fire.
Ostrom said the fire marshal told her turpentine, a flammable liquid, was found at the scene.
Hughes confirmed firefighters responded to the blaze. After investigating the fire, Hughes said the district determined it was suspicious but would leave the cause as “undetermined.”
“There was all sorts of discarded garbage around the vehicle, inside the vehicle,” he said. “That’s what makes it so hard. Who knows if the turpentine was a part of a painting project? There were other items there that could have been considered an accelerant.”
Although Hughes said the district has closed its own investigation, he expects Romero’s car insurance company will start its own review.
While the fire district is declining to assign a cause to the fire, Oregon Rural Action drew a connection between its environmental work and the incident.
“We’re deeply concerned this violent action may be a message to rural community members and Oregon Rural Action that we should stop our efforts to secure safe drinking water,” Ostrom said. “Safe drinking water is a fundamental right for all, including rural residents.”
Romero is a well-known figure in Boardman’s Latino community. In addition to his community organizing work, Romero is a weekend DJ for a Spanish-language radio station and works security for a farm in Southeast Washington.
Suspicious?
I’m suspicious that the authority overseeing and regulating the polluting owns the cattle.
All that is required for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing.