Aug 25, 2005 - 06:00:09 CDT
Pembina County's fire-damaged courthouse won't reopen for at least another month, and it may cost $800,000 to repair the courthouse and a nearby law enforcement center, state and county officials said.Sheriff Wayne Samdahl said county workers on Wednesday moved into the basement of the law enforcement center.
"There is a meeting room down there, so they set up tables, and all their computers are on the tables," the sheriff said. The lobby was damaged and the jail was dirty from smoke, he said. Three prisoners who were there when the fire broke out Friday night were transferred to Langdon.
A Hensel farmer, James Thorlakson, is being held in the Walsh County jail in Grafton on $1 million bail, on charges that he set the buildings afire last week after shooting at sheriff's deputies who had tried to serve him with a domestic violence protection order.
Thorlakson, 54, is charged with attempted murder, arson and endangerment by fire.
Samdahl said Thorlakson was in his field disking, and had a gun with him on the tractor when deputies came to serve him with the protection order Friday afternoon. Authorities said he refused to accept the order and fired at officers, then allegedly drove to Cavalier, setting fires, and wounding Police Chief Ken Wolf before fleeing into the country again.
With some 70 officers searching for Thorlakson, Samdahl said, the suspect apparently hid in a grove of trees near his farm, then went back to his home.
"I don't know how long he was there, but there's some evidence he was in some trees," the sheriff said. "We know he went to the farm and washed up in the sink."
Thorlakson, who authorities said was wounded in the battle with law enforcement officers, was arrested around 11 p.m., more than eight hours after deputies first went to his farm, after he went to the Park River hospital to seek medical treatment.
Insurance Commissioner Jim Poolman said he did not expect the courthouse to be back in service for 30 days. A statement on the North Dakota Supreme Court's Web site estimated it would not be ready for business for at least six weeks.
Poolman said the county's 911 emergency system, which is located in the law enforcement center, may need to be replaced.
That will cost $80,000 alone, he said.
Samdahl said the 911 computer was working Wednesday, but dirty.
"We may be able to save it, but it's full of dust and dirt," he said.
Poolman estimated the entire cleanup and repair expense would reach $800,000. Initially, he had said it could top $1 million.
"There's art work in (the courthouse) and a dome that has had some damage to it," Poolman said. "We've seen no structural damage, so that helps out a lot."
"When the basement burned, everybody was out of the building," Samdahl said. "So all their doors were shut. That helped keep a lot of the damage out of the offices."
He said employees were not afraid to return to work.
A state insurance fund, called the Fire and Tornado Fund, covers the damage to the buildings. The fund has more than $20 million, and can handle the expense without increasing rates on its government customers, Poolman said.
The fund also carries its own insurance policy to help with paying very large claims. The policy kicks in when claims exceed $1 million.
Laurie Fontaine, a state district judge who is based in Cavalier, will move her chambers to Langdon in neighboring Cavalier County while repairs are being done. Pembina and Cavalier counties are part of the Northeast Judicial District, which has 11 counties and six judges.
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