A bus waits at the front drive of Wildflower Lodge, La Grande, on Thursday, June 30, 2022. The assisted care facility was the site of three suspicious fires in 2022, the latest of which is the focus of an ongoing arson court case.
A bus waits at the front drive of Wildflower Lodge, La Grande, on Thursday, June 30, 2022. The assisted care facility was the site of three suspicious fires in 2022, the latest of which is the focus of an ongoing arson court case.
LA GRANDE — The La Grande man arrested on charges of arson and reckless endangering at the Wildflower Lodge is now out of jail.
Teryn DeMoss, 20, was taken into custody on Thursday, June 23, and lodged in the Union County Jail without incident, according to a press release from the La Grande Police Department. DeMoss worked as the lodge’s cook and had been employed at the assisted living facility for over a year.
“DeMoss ultimately confessed and told me he started the fire in room 42,” wrote detective Scott Norton in the probable cause declaration. “I asked DeMoss to tell me how he started the fire and he told me he lit a cardboard box located against the south wall of the room on fire with his lighter (consistent with physical evidence showing fire origin).”
Bail was set at $25,000 and DeMoss posted his security release of $2,500 on June 25, according to court documents. The conditions of his release include not entering the Wildflower Lodge property and not having any contact with representatives or employees of the facility.
In the declaration, Norton stated he was informed by Deputy State Fire Marshal Casey Kump and La Grande Fire Department Chief Emmitt Cornford that there had been three suspicious fires in the facility since the beginning of 2022 — one in a bathroom, one in a laundry room and the latest fire in room 42.
Norton requested employee records and identified DeMoss — along with two other employees — as being listed as working on all three days.
In an interview with police, a lodge employee told the police about additional suspicious activities related to the facility’s circuit breakers. The circuit breaker in the kitchen office and the maintenance room had been intentionally flipped on numerous occasions. The employee noticed that the flipped breakers in the maintenance room were predominantly associated with fire control, response and suppression systems. Additionally, the breaks flipped in the kitchen office were for outlets, lights and fire doors in the memory care portion of the facility.
While being interviewed, DeMoss also admitted to being charged with arson as a juvenile. He did not confess to setting the other two fires.
DeMoss is represented by Jared Boyd, of La Grande.
The hearing plea has been scheduled for Aug. 30 in Union County Circuit Court.
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LA GRANDE — A La Grande man was arrested for allegedly starting a fire earlier this month at Wildflower Lodge.
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