August 3, 2002
For more than a month, Heber residents raged against Valinda Jo Elliott for setting a wildfire that burned down their homes and forest. CAPTION: 1) Valinda Jo Elliott visited Heber and Overgaard last week. CAPTION: 2) The "Rodeo-Chediski" fire consumed nearly a half a million acres and destroyed nearly 500 buildings.
They spread rumors, demanded criminal prosecution and spoke her name with sneering expletives.
But, when the 27-year-old Phoenix woman paid a surprise visit to the town last week and tearfully apologized before TV cameras, spite surrendered to sympathy and forgiveness.
"It turned a lot of people around," said Wanda Clark, who lost her home and nearly 2 acres of trees to the "Rodeo-Chediski" fire. "They forgave. I mean, this town is awesome. Hate and vengeance, that's just not us at all."
Elliott did not entirely share the cleansing experience.
In an anguished letter to White Mountain residents that will appear in Sunday's Arizona Republic, she defended herself and ripped those who still blame her.
"I keep asking myself, what the hell I did do wrong?" she wrote. "...I'm sorry you people don't want to hear the truth."
Elliott's face-off in Heber was set up by the television newsmagazine Inside Edition, which also retraced her misadventures leading up to the fire. That saga began June 18, when Ransford Olmsted and Elliott, driving from Phoenix to Young on a work assignment, wound up lost and stranded on backroads of the Fort Apache Reservation. Elliott got even more lost when she went off alone to seek help.
After two nights in the woods, Elliott spotted a helicopter and set a bush ablaze. She was rescued, but her signal fire grew and merged into the largest conflagration in Arizona history, destroying 491 buildings and 469,000 acres of forest.
Especially in Heber-Overgaard, townsfolk painted Elliott as a stupid and reckless woman who showed no remorse -- and who deserved criminal prosecution.
Malicious stories spread like wildfire, including claims that Elliott was getting rich from television appearances. But attorney David Michael Cantor says Elliott was not paid to appear on the show, scheduled for broadcast in early September.
Josh Paris, a producer, said Inside Edition showed up last week at Doc's Rim Cafe, owned by Clark, to interview local folks.
After introductions, reporter Paul Boyd revealed Elliott was at a nearby store and wanted to say she was sorry.
That news sparked angry remarks and some concern for Elliott's safety before the crowd calmed itself.
"We wanted to look her in the face and hear from her exactly what went on," Clark explained. "I said, 'Why don't we meet at my house, which is burnt down?'
"I took her by the hand and led her through the non-existent house, showing where the kitchen was, and the sun room. She was just shaking ...and I told her, 'You have a lot of guts, honey, and I respect that."
Some White Mountain residents may not share Clark's change of heart, but volunteer Fire Chief Mel Epps said most in the crowd of 20 to 30 people credited Elliott for showing "a lot of moxie" and responded with compassion.
Some held hands and prayed with her. Others exchanged hugs. And, when Elliott asked about helping out, they suggested she join the cleanup effort.
Two days later, Cantor said, Elliott quietly returned to Heber with family and friends, but no television crew, and went to work with shovels.
"I don't think she was recognized," he added. "They just worked all day and left."
Clark, who now blames environmentalists for the devastation, says she is convinced that Elliott was desperate to be rescued and justified in lighting a signal fire.
"How can we condemn a person for trying to save her life?" she asked. "You can't. And there comes a time to let things go."
1-888-8CANTOR 480-858-0808
602-307-0808 623-877-8509
Calls are answered 24 hours a day
Broadway Road & 101 Freeway
2141 E. Broadway Road, Suite 220
Tempe, Arizona 85282
Not GuiltyComplete Acquittal |
04/03/09 |
Extreme DWI, DUI, and DWI |
Not GuiltyComplete Acquittal |
03/19/09 |
Felony Animal Cruelty |
Not GuiltyComplete Acquittal |
01/26/09 |
DUI and DWI |
Not GuiltyComplete Acquittal |
12/18/08 |
Extreme DWI, DUI, and DWI |
Not GuiltyComplete Acquittal |
09/16/08 |
Burglary, Possession of Burglary Tools, Criminal Damage |
Our most recent successes of more than 200 victories.
November 09, 2008
A dozen years ago, 3,000 drunken-driving prosecutions in Tucson…
