The Benton County commissioners believe the Department of Energy should pay restitution to the Benton City people who lost their homes in last summer's massive Hanford fire.

Meanwhile, DOE believes it was not negligent in fighting that fire and should not be held liable.

Commission Chairman Max Benitz Jr. and some DOE officials sparred over those contentions Tuesday in Richland's Federal Building -- with neither side budging.

Benitz emphasized two points Tuesday:

-- DOE should be held liable for the fire damage to Benton City because the fire went out of control on Hanford. The county government has not calculated how much money it is seeking for the homeowners.

-- The county, DOE and other federal and state agencies should put together a coordinated firefighting plan for future big Hanford fires. DOE officials readily agreed Tuesday.

This is part of the aftermath of a late June fatal car-crash fire that occurred just off Hanford on Highway 24.

It spread onto the reservation, south along Rattlesnake Ridge and into the fringes of Benton City, destroying 11 homes.

It took about 900 firefighters from numerous Northwest departments several days to put out the 256-square-mile fire.

Benitz argued that DOE is responsible for the fire escaping from Hanford. A private property owner is responsible for a fire leaving his or her property, and DOE should be held to the same standard, Benitz contended.

He cited some confusion at the beginning of the fire, saying that led to the flames getting out of control.

Hanford's fire department was the first on the scene. By midnight of the first day, the Hanford department had turned command over to the state as the fire grew and more departments were brought in.

DOE officials contended the fire was aggressively fought from the beginning, citing recent DOE and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigations that backed that stance.

"Unless negligence is proven on our part, we don't feel we're liable for anything. We did the best we could under the circumstances," said Bob Rosselli, DOE's deputy manager for support functions.

Some confusion existed at the beginning of the fire, but not enough to cause it to go out of control, DOE officials said.

Benitz said the county commissioners have not decided on their next move in this dispute.

Some of the burned Benton City homes were insured. In some cases, insurance did not cover all of a homeowner's losses.