Palouse Mammoth goes up in flames

The wooden mammoth erected in downtown Palouse went up in flames Sunday night in an apparent act of arson.

Palouse Police chief Jerry Neumann said the structure was torched around 8 p.m. Sunday.

“It’s just a shame. It’s just a complete lack of respect,” said the creator of the mammoth, Palouse artist Thad Froio.

“Honestly, we don’t have any suspects at this time,” Neumann said. “I believe there was a group in the beer garden who had a conversation earlier in the night about wanting to burn it. An hour later the mammoth is on fire.”

All that remained of the 12-foot-tall structure the Monday morning after was a crumpled heap of charred lumber. The wooden mammoth had stood in the downtown Palouse lot which will be the future site of the community center.

Creator Froio was dismayed to learn it had been burned.

“I was hanging at my friend’s house in Palouse…[someone said] ‘The mammoth is on fire right now.’ I was like ‘What?’” Froio told the Gazette.

Froio had hoped to create a publicity event for the center by inviting people to a public burning of the mammoth.

However, the regional office of the Department of Ecology learned of the plan and put the kabosh on the event with a phone call to Froio.

He since had made plans to take the mammoth down and re-build it in another location.

“The mayor - Michael - liked it there. He wanted me to finish it. A lot of members of the community and council were telling me they liked the unique landmark in town,” Froio added.

Chief Neumann said possible charges in the case could include arson or violating the town’s burning code regulations.

“On the high end, it’s arson and on the low end it’s a violation of the no burning regulation the city has,” he said.