July 3, 1998

By Joshua Moore
Herald Staff Writer

MONTEZUMA CREEK, Utah – Searchers turned up the heat on two fugitives Thursday afternoon, setting a mile-wide fire on the banks of the San Juan River about a half mile from where Navajo trackers found fresh tracks Wednesday morning.

San Juan County, Utah, Sheriff Mike Lacy stressed Thursday that searchers set the fire to clear away the thick vegetation along the river – not to smoke or burn the fugitives out of hiding. The fire was set three days after a 9-year-old girl reported seeing two men matching the descriptions of Alan "Monte" Pilon, 30, of Dove Creek, and Jason Wayne McVean, 26, of Durango.



The two men allegedly shot Cortez police officer Dale Claxton and wounded two sheriff’s deputies before fleeing into Cross Canyon on May 29. A third suspect, Robert Mason, 26, of Durango, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound June 4 near Bluff, Utah.

Highway 163 from Montezuma Creek to Bluff was closed shortly before the fire was set at 3 p.m., and remained closed until about 6 p.m., Lacy said.

More than 80 special weapons and tactics team members were positioned on the ridges overlooking the river as other SWAT teams started the blaze by lighting flares along the western boundary of the search area, about nine miles west of Montezuma Creek. Lacy said he had intended to light the fire using explosive balls dropped from a helicopter, but was unable to gather the materials and necessary equipment by Thursday afternoon.

The flares quickly ignited the sagebrush and other dry vegetation away from the river, but it was several minutes before the tamarisk and Russian olive trees at the river’s edge would burn.

Lacy said searchers had decided to light several small spot fires in the middle of the six-mile search and would monitor the blaze to determine if other fires are needed.

The fire was set near where Navajo trackers heard two men talking, giggling and splashing in the river Tuesday night, Lacy said. The trackers were able to get within 30 yards of the men, Lacy said, but had not tried to capture the suspects because their night vision goggles malfunctioned.

The trackers also did not want to risk a gun battle at night, Lacy said, and the thick brush made it difficult to set a perimeter around the two suspects.

Some environmentalists called the San Juan County, Utah, sheriff’s office to voice their objection’s to Thursday’s fire, Lacy said, but most of the Navajos and other people who live along the river were pleased with the plan.

Lacy said area residents have discussed burning the vegetation for several years.

"It’s something that should have been burned a long time ago," Lacy said.

Lacy said farmers will be able to let livestock graze along the river after the dense bushes are burned away and new, thinner vegetation grows in its place.

Helicopter crews flew over the river shortly before the fire was set, broadcasting a message over their loudspeakers informing anyone who might be on the river to leave the area immediately.

There are no houses in the search area and authorities believe no one but the fugitives are near the river, Lacy said.

Searchers had hoped to light the fire at noon Thursday, but were delayed by an investigation into a report by a San Juan County, Utah, deputy who saw two men in camouflage Wednesday night. Investigators used search dogs to follow a trail left by the two people, but Lacy said they dismissed the tracks because they were smaller than Pilon and McVean’s tracks and had disappeared, as if they had gotten into a vehicle.

Authorities ordered rafters out of the river near Montezuma Creek Thursday morning. the rafters apparently were unaware that the river was closed from Montezuma Creek to Bluff.

Moments after crews lit Thursday’s fire, authorities were again distracted by an alarm indicating a hostage situation at the Zion’s Bank in Montezuma Creek. Lacy said he investigated the report and found that one of the bank tellers had mistakenly pressed an alarm button.

Lacy said more than 50 searchers would monitor the fire throughout Thursday night and would watch for any movement in the search area by using infrared and night vision goggles. He said searchers are considering sending in search dogs first thing this morning to follow any new tracks that might be uncovered.