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A 22-year-old man, found guilty of arson and sentenced to five years in prison, admitted to deliberately setting fire to an abandoned wooden building in Oregon City because transients who lived there had stolen his belongings.
The Inferno Took 190 Firefighters Several Hours to Control
Christian Gannon Dukes pleaded guilty to first-degree arson when he appeared in the Clackamas County Circuit Court on Thursday following an inferno at premises previously owned by the Blue Heron Paper Mill, which took 190 firefighters several hours to control.
Dukes was arrested on June 12 after police interviewed people living in the abandoned building northeast of Willamette Falls.
In a plea agreement, Dukes admitted intentionally setting fire to the three-story wooden building on January 30, 2025, after igniting papers stacked several feet high on the floor, according to a statement issued by the Clackamas County District Attorney’s Office.
Dukes told investigators that his actions were spurred by his belief that some of his belongings had been stolen by transients living in the abandoned building.
Police records show that Dukes was listed as homeless in 2022, when he was convicted of harassment. He was sentenced to probation at that time.
The Blue Heron Paper Mill filed for bankruptcy in 2009, and a decade later, the property was purchased by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde for development into tumwata village on its former ancestral grounds. tumwata village is being developed as a mixed-use development, offering retail, residential, and commercial space, as well as restaurants, a hotel, and an event space.
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