Chief says fire district too small for casino

WILLAMINA, Ore. — The fire chief whose department is responsible for protecting the Spirit Mountain Casino, says his mostly volunteer crew is ill-equipped to protect a five-story casino-motel complex.

Chuck Eddings said the West Valley Fire District lacks a ladder that can reach above two floors, and the closest trucks that have them are more than 30 minutes away.

"I personally wouldn't stay on the upper floors," Eddings said.

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, which operates the casino about 50 miles southwest of Portland, maintains that Spirit Mountain is safe. A consultant the tribes hired praised the casino's design and fire-safety programs.

"We are absolutely confident, as outside studies have shown, that we are providing a safe environment," said tribal spokeswoman Siobhan Taylor.

State fire officials say the casino, Oregon's busiest tourist attraction with 3 million visitors a year, is designed for maximum fire safety. But they also side with Eddings, saying mechanical systems can fail and casino employees have been reluctant to order evacuations during alarms.

"The building is built as good as you're going to get," said Stacy Warner, assistant chief deputy state fire marshal. "But that building also holds a whole lot of people."

As sovereign nations, the tribes are exempt from property taxes that would normally cover fire service.

Among the nine Oregon tribes with gaming operations, the Grand Ronde is alone in not regularly supporting local fire service. The others either pay local departments or run their own fire agencies.

Eddings' concern surfaced several years ago. In a March 4, 2004, letter to the Grand Ronde tribal council, he wrote: "The fire district cannot provide adequate fire protection to prevent an incident that may incur catastrophic loss of life."

Eddings' letter didn't find its way to the tribal executive responsible for the casino until nine months later.

Lynn Hillman, a former Oregon State Police commander who is now executive director of the Grand Ronde Gaming Commission, retained HYT, a California engineering firm, to assess fire risk at Spirit Mountain.

The June 2005 report praised the tribe for an exemplary building and a strong safety program. Still, the firm issued three pages of recommendations deemed "necessary," such as quickening the replacement of sprinkler heads that had been recalled.