April 12 on the back side of a fence running between Pacific Pride in the 900 block of South Central Avenue and the railroad tracks leading to the petroleum business.įirst responders found multiple containers holding automatic transmission fluid and motor oil along the fence line, according to the DA’s office.

The first 911 call came in with reports of a fire at 9:39 p.m. Ravassipour told Salmons during the sentencing hearing that he is exactly the kind of person who needs to be on some sort of supervision. The maximum penalty is 20 years in prison, but Circuit Court Judge Kelly Ravassipour said during the sentencing hearing that the maximum sentence would have resulted in no post-prison supervision, according to the DA’s office.

John Charles Salmons, 50, was sentenced Thursday in Jackson County Circuit Court to 17 years in prison followed by three years of post-prison supervision for starting the April 12 fire, according to the Jackson County District Attorney’s office. A man convicted of first-degree arson for starting the fire that wiped out the Carson Pacific Pride in south Medford - among other businesses and commercial buildings - will serve three years shy of Oregon’s maximum penalty for the crime.