GREENSPRINGS — Jonathan Paul was sitting down to his usual lunch — tofu burger on a homemade bun — at the Green Springs Inn on Tuesday.

Heavy snow was falling outside. The interim trainer for the Greensprings Fire and Rescue had been chatting with Adam Hanor, who owns the inn with his wife, Jennifer, about the ongoing training program for the volunteer department.

A brown Chevrolet Blazer and a dark car with tinted windows pulled up. Three men walked in and politely asked if they could have a word outside with Paul.

That’s when they frisked and handcuffed the wildlands firefighter. Paul, 39, was arrested for what the FBI described as ecoterrorism for aiding in the nighttime firebombing of the Cavel West horsemeat packing plant in Redmond on July 21, 1997. The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the blaze, which caused some $1 million in damage.

"It’s so incongruous, the things we’ve been hearing about him," Adam Hanor said. "We feel like someone is ripping our hearts out."

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Several angry customers expressed their disgust to the agents taking Paul away, Hanor said.

"We love him," he said. "If this can happen to someone like him, what can happen to the rest of us?"

Tamara Drake, Paul’s wife, described him as a "non-violent, peaceful and compassionate" person with a keen sense of humor.

"We’ve got people running around out there who are real serial arsonists — the federal government isn’t arresting them," Drake said.

In a related development in the widening dragnet by federal agents of those suspected of ecosabotage, Suzanne Nicole "India" Savoie, 28, of Elliott Road in the Applegate Valley, turned herself in to the FBI Thursday morning. Earlier reports that she lived in Williams were incorrect.

Savoie had just learned she was wanted by the FBI in connection with the Jan. 2, 2001, fire that destroyed the offices of Superior Lumber Co. in Glendale. The Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the fire, which caused $400,000 in damages. The firm is now known as the Swanson Group.

Paul and Savoie face five to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. Paul has been transferred to the Lane County Jail in Eugene, where he was lodged on a federal hold Friday. Savoie also was scheduled to be transferred to Eugene, but as of Saturday was still in the Jackson County Jail.

Hearings on Paul and Savoie’s arson indictments have been set for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in U.S. District Court before Magistrate Judge Thomas Coffin. Both have been ordered held without bail.

Acquaintances and family members have expressed disbelief at the charges and outrage at both the federal government and the media. They vehemently disagree that Paul and Savoie pose a risk to society as prosecutors have alleged.

"She’s absolutely non-violent," said Ashland resident Jan Wright, the mother of Savoie’s partner, Luke Ruediger. Savoie is accused of acting as a lookout with her then- boyfriend, Daniel Gerard McGowan, during the Superior arson.

"I can’t picture her hurting a fly," added Wright, the director of the Talent Historical Society. "This has made me look at other cases with a lot of suspicion. Who do you believe? Who is a credible witness?"

Drake said she and Paul met six years ago while working on a project to educate the public about the plight of whales because of ocean pollution and whale hunting. They’ve been married for nearly four years.

They live in the Greensprings area with three dogs and two cats.

"He’s the most caring and generous man I’ve ever met," she said. "He puts other people’s needs before his."

Last spring, her husband drove what she described as a "whale bus" up the California coast, stopping at elementary schools and other places en route to talk about whales.

"That doesn’t sound like what kind of person they are trying to say he is," she said.

Federal authorities believe Paul and others did a "dry run" of their plan a week before the Cavel West arson. A search warrant affidavit states confidential sources told the FBI that Paul prepared the fuel used in the arson, carried fuel to the site and placed an incendiary device at the plant office.

Drake bristles at the term "ecoterrorist" being used by federal agents to describe those being charged with arson.

"But I’m definitely going to be an optimist," she said. "My only goal right now is to get Jonathan back home with us."

Adam Hanor described Paul as a soft-spoken vegan who was always offering to help others.

"We have some pretty wild and crazy people up here," he said, adding that Paul doesn’t fit that description.

Hanor’s wife agreed.

"He is the kindest soul I’ve ever met," Jennifer Hanor said. "... He was always out there plowing (with his own vehicle) the roads or helping people clear out their driveways. He is the first guy to call if you need help."

After he was subpoenaed by a Eugene grand jury early in December, Paul dropped in to see the Hanors as a friend to talk about his concerns, she said.

"He talked about how ridiculous it was, that he didn’t condone violent actions," she said.

Longtime Greensprings resident Suzi Given, who described herself as a conservative, also spoke out for Paul.

"I don’t support ecoterrorism, for God’s sakes," she said. "None of us do. That’s crazy."

Paul’s experience as a firefighter has been a boon to Greensprings Fire and Rescue, said board president Gene Davies. Paul had been an award-winning firefighter with the Williams Fire Department before moving to the Greensprings.

"I find him to be a very fine individual," Davies said. "We’re a new department — we really welcomed his help and knowledge and skill."

Former Williams resident Karen Wood, an environmental activist now raising a family with her husband in Pittsburgh, is a longtime friend of Paul’s.

"It all looks like a witch hunt," she said in a telephone interview. "They take one of the most responsible guys in the community and charge him with this?"

She believes the arrests are part of an attempt by the federal government to harass those speaking out on environmental issues and to establish headway in its anti-terrorism efforts.

"You don’t know anymore if you are being listened to," she said, referring to domestic wiretapping by the National Security Agency.

"The federal government seems to have unlimited powers right now."

Friends described Savoie, who is college-educated, as a stable individual who has worked for the last four years in a group home for developmentally disabled people in Ashland.

Talent resident Ana Baumstark, a longtime friend of Savoie’s, called her a "loving, caring person" missed by friends and family.

"We support her completely and are hoping and praying that she’s returned to us soon," Baumstark said.

"Suzanne is a loving partner, a kind and gentle person," Luke Ruediger said in an e-mail to the Mail Tribune. "We all miss her and are awaiting her return to her home, her family and her community."

His sister, Jessica Ruediger, concurred.

"She’s family to me — she’s a kind-hearted person," Jessica Ruediger said.

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.com.