Pubdate: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 Source: North County Times (CA) Copyright: 2002 North County Times Contact: http://www.nctimes.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1080 DEA TAKING OVER PINES FIRE CLAIMS JULIAN -- Pines Fire victims' claims will be processed by the Drug Enforcement Administration and ultimately reviewed by the Department of Justice before any payment is made to them, authorities said Tuesday. The announcement came as a surprise to fire victims and to county Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who said families had expected the National Guard to handle their claims. The National Guard started the fire July 29 while on a drug surveillance mission and has been working with the families in the days since. The announcement of the process, which came Tuesday afternoon, was a surprise to Pines Fire victims and to many involved, including the local Drug Enforcement Administration office. Donald Thornhill Jr., DEA spokesman for the San Diego office, said he was told of the policy about 4 p.m. Tuesday and had to wait until Wednesday to get information from the headquarters office in Washington D.C. Yet Thornhill said he would like the victims to be assured that they "care about these people and we're doing our best to get them paid." Thornhill said the process is standard procedure as part of the Federal Torts Claim Act and some claims were forwarded by the National Guard two weeks ago. He said he's been told that headquarters is trying to expedite them. "This will not be some long, protracted process," Thornhill said. Jacob said the news yesterday caught everyone off guard. She said she is trying to rally Washington, D.C., contacts to lobby the DEA to pay the victims quickly. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens