PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss charges against a firefighting company over the deaths of one of its crews in a van crash last summer.
Eight firefighters working for First Strike Environmental, of Roseburg, were killed when their van crashed in eastern Oregon as they were returning from an Idaho wildfire.
The company is charged with reckless endangerment and drunken driving, punishable by fines. The prosecution alleges supervisors at First Strike knew a large amount of alcohol had been bought during the firefighters' trip home.
Umatilla County Judge Garry Reynolds rejected company arguments that it was also a victim in the case, and that a prosecutor failed to provide enough detail about the alleged drinking blamed for the crash.
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