Jackson Outfitters pays $500K to settle wildfire ignition allegations

A hunting company based in southwestern Colorado has paid $500,000 to settle allegations that it sparked a national forest wildfire in 2019, federal officials said.

Federal investigators allege Jackson Outfitters is liable for the ignition of the Cow Creek Fire, which burned 850 acres in Colorado’s Uncompahgre National Forest in October 2019, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Federal officials believe the fire was caused by embers flying out of a wood-burning stove inside the hunting outfitter’s camp and igniting dry vegetation on the ground, according to the release.

Roy Jackson, a spokesman for the family-owned hunting company, said the claims against it are “unfounded.”

In agreeing to settle the matter, Jackson Outfitters did not admit any liability for the wildfire.

Jackson said in an emailed statement to the Denver Post that four hunters from Wisconsin had rented Jackson Outfitters’ Cow Creek site for a self-guided, four-day elk hunting tour.

The group of hunters spotted the fire about 300 yards up the hill from their camp at about 6:15 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2019, according to Jackson. The hunters told Jackson that they did not start the fire and they saw at least two other groups in the area shortly before it sparked.

In January 2022, more than two years after the fire started, Jackson said his company received a Notice of Indebtedness demanding that the hunting outlet and the group of Wisconsin hunters pay roughly $2.2 million in damages. The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not confirm this number.

“Jackson Outfitters denies that its actions, or the actions of the hunters, caused the Cow Creek Fire,” Jackson said in the statement. “Nevertheless, in order to continue to operate its business within the Uncompahgre National Forest and in consideration of its permit with the USDA Forest Service coming up for renewal, Jackson Outfitters and its insurer agreed to settle the case against the company for $500,000.”

Jackson said the stove had a functioning spark arrestor and the hunters were encouraged to use it, but officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office claim it did not.

A spark arrestor allows gases to escape a stove or chimney while preventing embers and sparks from escaping.