An Oregon ranch has been hit with another lawsuit accusing it of starting a wildfire that consumed nearly 60,000 acres.

A second lawsuit has accused an Oregon ranch of causing millions of dollars in damages by negligently igniting a 2018 wildfire.

The federal government has filed a complaint claiming that J-Spear Ranch of Paisley, Ore., started the Watson Creek Fire in the Fremont-Winema National Forest, similarly to another lawsuit filed by a timber company last month.

According to the federal government’s lawsuit, the fire claimed a total 59,000 acres of which about 46,000 acres are administered by the U.S. Forest Service, resulting in at least $14 million worth of losses in timber, habitat, water protection and environmental values, as well as fire suppression and rehabilitation costs.

The complaint alleges the fire was sparked in mid-August 2018 by a ranch employee on an all-terrain vehicle conducting maintenance on the Paradise Creek allotment, for which J-Spear Ranch is responsible.

The ranch had not outfitted the vehicle with fire-suppression equipment or cleaned it to remove dried vegetation and other debris, as required by fire season rules for that area, the government claims.

“J-Spear’s conduct created a foreseeable and unreasonable risk of fire damage to the United States’ land,” the complaint said.

The ranch’s grazing permit for the federal allotment required it to take precautions against fire and to pay for damages caused by negligence, the complaint said.

The lawsuit filed by the Green Diamond Resource Co. of Seattle likewise blames the Watson Creek Fire on an ATV operated by a ranch employee.

The timber company’s complaint alleges that J-Spear Ranch’s actions caused the fire to burn nearly 13,000 acres of its property, resulting in $7.75 million in damages.

However, the Green Diamond Resource Co. seeks twice that amount in compensation under Oregon laws that increase potential awards due to timber trespass, recklessness, gross negligence, willfulness or malice.

Capital Press was unable to reach J-Spear Ranch for comment because its telephone number is disconnected and no attorney for the company is named in court records.