The Washington State Auditor's Office is raising questions about a $1.8 million payment the Department of Natural Resources made to a landowner following the devastating 2014 wildfire season.
"We found the department did not follow its own policy" auditors concluded after reviewing DNR's payment to Gebbers Farms in Okanogan County.
The KING 5 Investigators revealed in November of 2014 that Gebbers was the only landowner compensated for firefighting expenses following the Carlton Complex fires.
Gebbers largely fought the fire on its own orchard land, but taxpayers reimbursed Gebbers for the salaries of its orchard workers, heavy equipment and helicopters.
Audit manager Jim Brownell said DNR did not establish the proper reimbursement rates and obtain enough supporting documentation to justify the payments. Kent Stanford, president of the union that represents DNR firefighters, said he believes that Gebbers was given special treatment.
"It's disappointing," Stanford said. "I don't believe in my 30-something years of firefighting that I've ever seen an individual paid this amount of money.”
Stanford said his union's firefighting experts were not involved with Gebbers crews, so he doesn't know how DNR can justify the accuracy of the payments.
DNR and Gebbers did not comment for this story.