On 08/17/2023 just after 5:00pm a Lane County Sheriff’s Deputy noticed a column of smoke coming from the wooded area behind the Ray’s Food Place store on Territorial Hwy. in Veneta. Additional deputies responded to the area and discovered that a fire had been started and was rapidly growing. Multiple firefighting resources responded, including a helicopter, to fight the fire. The fire was controlled and eventually extinguished. Investigation revealed that 69-year-old Christopher James Barnstable intentionally set the fire. Barnstable was taken into custody on the charge of Arson in the First Degree.
