Officials from the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department said they are following up on leads from a “suspicious” fire that burned down a sacred Karuk dance house in early July.

While tribal members have expressed concern that the fire was arson, investigators are not confirming that at this point in time.

“The fire has been ruled suspicious, but it has not been ruled an arson at this point,” said Susan Gravenkamp, public information officer with Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department.

An investigation also showed that some benches were removed from the site and others were burned, she said.

“(The FBI hasn’t) been brought in, but (it has) been consulted,” Gravenkamp said.

The sacred dance house, which is located on the Klamath River at Somes Bar, was first constructed in the early 1970s, said Julian Lang, a spiritual leader with the Karuk Tribe, in a previous interview with The Eureka Reporter.

“It’s a house, (with) a kind of semi-subterranean, sunken living room,” Lang said. “(It has) a dance area; that’s where we have our (Brush Dance, our) healing ceremony for children.”

District Ranger Bill Rice of the Orleans/Ukonom Ranger District for Six Rivers National Forest said his agency was first alerted of the fire in the early morning of July 1.

“We sent the appropriate couple engines … to secure the site and at the same time to start to put out the fire,” he said. “It’s a pit-like structure that was burning and it burned fairly hot. We asked for an initial fire investigator to come up (and) it remains under investigation.”

Approximately a week after the fire occurred, the investigation was passed on to the Sheriff’s Department, although Rice said his agency will continue to assist as needed.

Anyone with information about the fire may phone the Siskiyou Sheriff’s Department at 530-842-8300.

A Web site has been set up by the tribe to provide updates on the fire investigation and events. The address is www.katimiin.karuk.org.

A community board has also been created for those who wish to comment on the fire and its impact on community residents. For more information, e-mail irahiv@yahoo.com.