In brief: Sleepy Hollow fire investigated

Investigators looking into the Sleepy Hollow fire near Wenatchee have ruled out natural causes, such as lightning, but they’re still looking into whether the fire was set on purpose or by accident, authorities said at a Wednesday news briefing.

The blaze, which began Sunday and has scorched more than 4 square miles and 29 homes, has been the worst so far this season. Just days after that wildfire razed homes, a new blaze in nearby Quincy burned some buildings and forced about two dozen residents to flee.

That fire, labeled the Monument Hill fire, has charred more than 3 square miles of dry sagebrush and grass and destroyed five abandoned buildings, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office said.

It is partially contained.

Winds whipped the flames through farmland, vineyards and some steep terrain starting late Tuesday. Another wildfire in Central Washington burned nearly 5 1/2 square miles of sagebrush and grass south of the small town of Mansfield, about 40 miles northeast of Wenatchee.

Staff and wire reports

Pill dealer sentenced to 50 years

The ringleader of an illicit painkiller operation that brought thousands of OxyContin pills to the streets of Spokane will spend the next 50 years in federal prison.

Arvin T. Carmen, 39, was sentenced last week in Spokane following a three-week jury trial that concluded in November. Carmen and three others – Donta L. Blackmon, Brandon L. Chavez and Karlynn R. Tones – were convicted of multiple crimes tied to the distribution and sale of the prescription opiate that has been targeted by the Food and Drug Administration to prevent abuse and trafficking.

Federal, state and local investigators began targeting Carmen and other members of a Los Angeles street gang in 2011, eventually obtaining controversial wiretaps that were challenged, but allowed, at trial. Investigators learned that gang members  were recruiting women to fly pills from California to Spokane, where they were sold on the street at a premium.

In addition to the prison sentence, Carmen was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. If he is released from prison, he will be on probation for life.

Kip Hill

Mower stolen at Humane Society

The Spokane Humane Society is seeking the public’s help to identify a lawnmower thief, following the third burglary at the animal rescue group this year.

The Humane Society posted on its Facebook page surveillance video of the theft, which occurred around 4 a.m. Monday, said Dave Richardson, the organization’s executive director. The stolen mower was on loan from a Humane Society employee after another burglar stole the group’s riding lawnmower earlier this year.

The video shows a white man, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, enter through a gate and pull the mower out onto a pickup truck bed. He leaves the gate open and drives away, all within about three minutes.

The Humane Society is asking anyone with information about the theft to contact Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

Kip Hill