In brief: Dog starts fire that destroys home
Vancouver, Wash. – A dog inadvertently started a fire that destroyed a house early Saturday morning in Vancouver’s Sunnyside neighborhood, according to the Vancouver Fire Department.
Firefighters were dispatched to the blaze at 11613 N.E. 65th Ave. at 12:43 a.m. and could see fire and smoke from more than a mile away, said Vancouver Fire Department Capt. David James. They arrived to find heavy fire and smoke coming from the back of the single-story ranch house.
James said the renter had left the dog alone in the house for the first time, and investigators believe the dog jumped up looking for food on the stove and inadvertently turned the stove on, which caused items on the stove to catch fire.
When the fire was finally brought under control, only a small section of the home remained standing, according to James.
The dog did not survive.
Bighorn sheep capture begins
KALISPELL, Mont. – Efforts to capture bighorn sheep from Wild Horse Island in Flathead Lake got off to a slow start last week, with the animals taking cover in trees and wildlife officials spending an extra day trying to catch them.
Officials through Friday had captured 29 bighorns as part of their plan to transplant 50 to the Tendoy Mountains, about 40 miles south of Dillon.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman John Fraley said officials would try to bag more sheep Saturday using a helicopter with workers who fire a net gun to capture the animals.
Officials say the 2,160-acre island has about 230 bighorns, well above the objective of 125 recommended by wildlife officials.
Pneumonia die-offs in 1993 and 1999 caused the Tendoy herd to drop from its peak of about 250 bighorns. Fager said the herd was last given a boost with additional transplanted bighorns in 2002, and officials hope to increase the population to 200.
The capture goal from the island is 40 ewes, five lambs and five yearling rams.
Historic mansion damaged in blaze
HELENA – A Helena mansion built in 1889 that’s on the National Register of Historic Places sustained about $75,000 in damage when a fire damaged part of the third floor and attic.
Firefighters say a nanny and dog in the house at the time of the fire on Friday morning escaped unharmed.
Fire Marshal Craig Trapp told the Independent Record that the fire appears to have started in the attic.
The three-story brick house was built by Francis Pope, a successful wholesale and retail druggist.
Traffic stop leads police to pot grow
ASHLAND, Ore. – Authorities say an Ashland man was arrested after investigators found his medical marijuana site had hundreds of pounds of marijuana more than allowed.
Police seized 137 pounds of usable marijuana and 306 pounds of dried, unprocessed marijuana on Thursday and arrested 59-year-old Stephen Mark Granach on drug charges, the Medford Mail Tribune reported.
Granach told police the house was a grow site for eight medical marijuana cards. Police said that would allow the operation 12 pounds.
Investigators said they learned about the grow site after a traffic stop in which state troopers seized two pounds of marijuana that had come from the Ashland place.