Oregon man sentenced to 11 years in blaze near the 2020 Almeda Fire
An Oregon man accused of starting a wildfire as another destructive blaze was burning in 2020 was sentenced Monday to 11 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Michael Bakkela, 43, was accused of setting a second fire as the Almeda Fire was raging in southern Oregon on Sept. 8, 2020.
The Almeda Fire swept through the towns of Phoenix and Talent, burning more than 3,000 acres and destroying more than 2,500 homes in all.
Bakkela pleaded no contest to a count of arson, 16 counts of criminal mischief and two counts animal abuse Wednesday in connection with the fire he caused, the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office said.
The Almeda Fire was well involved by the time Bakkela set the other fire, officials said at the time.
The Almeda Fire started around 11 a.m., and the second one that Bakkela was accused of starting began around 5 p.m. Bakkela is not accused in the larger, more destructive Almeda Fire.
The fire that Bakkela is alleged to have started destroyed or damaged a hemp farm and 14 homes, the district attorney’s office said. Several animals also died.
The Almeda Fire was one of more than 30 wildfires that burned across Oregon in September of that year. The blazes were fueled by hot, windy conditions.
There is no evidence that Bakkela was involved in the ignition of the Almeda Fire, the district attorney's office said. Prosecutors do not believe the two fires merged and that railroad tracks acted as a fire break, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jeremy Markiewicz said.
The investigation into the Almeda Fire is continuing.
The fire began that Bakkela caused occurred after he tried to drive a truck onto railroad tracks, officials said. Bakkela told police that it stalled and that he tried to get it going by pouring gasoline into the engine area, the district attorney’s office said. Arson investigators determined the fire was set, the office said.
Bakkela’s attorney, Donald Scales, said Tuesday that Bakkela acted recklessly while trying to flee but that he did not intend to start a fire. The truck got stuck and started smoking before it rolled into a field of 4-foot-tall grass, he said.
“Mr. Bakkela has never said, ‘I did nothing wrong.’ He knows that what he did was reckless. It was not intentional,” Scales said.
Phoenix and Talent are southeast of Medford.
CORRECTION (May 10, ( 9:36 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the fire Michael Bakkela is accused of starting later merged with the larger Almeda Fire. Prosecutors do not believe they merged; they say railroad tracks acted as a fire break.
