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2A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2016 Firefi ghter thrown up to 20 feet in Portland gas explosion, fi re Astoria AAUW holds candidates, measures forum on Wednesday The Astoria branch of the American Associa- tion of University Women (AAUW) is hosting and moderating a public Can- didates and Ballot Measure Forum at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Room 219 of Columbia Hall at Clatsop Community College. The fi rst hour offers information and questions for Astoria City Council PORTLAND — An injured fi refi ghter who’s being hailed as a hero for helping to evacu- ate a building before a power- ful gas explosion in a Portland shopping district said he was tossed up to 20 feet by the blast. The explosion hurt eight people Wednesday morning, demolished a three-story his- toric building and ignited a fi re that sent a plume of smoke over the city. Three fi refi ghters, two police offi cers and three civil- ians were injured. None of the injuries were life-threatening. Portland Fire & Rescue Lt. Peter St. John blacked out after the explosion and awoke in pain as chaos unfolded around him, he said in an interview Thursday from his hospital bed. The blast broke his left femur and the tibia and fi bula of his right leg, he said. “I got thrown across the street, and I was tied up in a chain-link fence on the ground,” he said Thursday. “I tried to wig- gle my toes because I couldn’t move my legs ... Then I looked at my right leg, I knew it was broken at that point.” Weekend Break section debuts today in Astorian Color comics on Friday soon The Daily Astorian Starting today, The Daily Astorian’s C section on Fri- days becomes Weekend Break, a features section grouping a Writer’s Notebook or local feature with the TV grids, comics, Dear Annie, horoscopes and a new color- ful Kids Scoop page. Begin- ning Nov. 4, comic strips will run in color on Fridays. “Our goal is to fi ll the C section with news and fea- tures you can read and use all weekend long,” said Laura Sellers, managing edi- tor of The Daily Astorian. “By making better use of the space in the third section, we gain more space in the news pages for local news, pho- tos and features, along with state, national and interna- tional news that affect the North Coast. “We want enlarge the sec- tion travel, leisure and books, as well,” A hero Fire Chief Mike Myers said Wednesday that St. John ran inside the building to pull fi re alarms and called the young lieutenant a hero, but St. John FIVE-DAY FORECAST FOR ASTORIA TONIGHT SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY 62 51 47 A shower early; otherwise, rather cloudy 62 51 Mostly cloudy; afternoon rain, breezy evacuated from the scene, he noticed live power lines nearby and heard at least one more explosion, he said. On Thursday, Myers reit- erated that the heroism of St. John and others prevented a far worse outcome. “I fully expected to get here and have fi refi ghter fatalities,” he said, adding that from the call he received he expected to fi nd “numbers of fi refi ghters down.” By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press candidates Tom Bronson, Bruce Allen and Cory Ped- erson and Oregon House District 32 candidates Debo- rah Boone and Bruce Bobek. The second hour consists of hearing arguments for and against Ballot Measure 97. Written questions from the audience are being orga- nized by the AAUW and asked by moderator Patricia Garner, a member of Astoria AAUW and the state Public Policy representative. The Daily Astorian TUESDAY 60 50 Cloudy and breezy with a little rain 60 49 Reduced to rubble Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian Lt. Peter St. John of Portland Fire & Rescue lies in a bed, re- covering from surgery at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, Thursday in Portland. St. John was injured during a natural gas explosion near a construction site Wednesday. said he doesn’t agree. He did evacuate the build- ing and order the fi re trucks to move back, he said, but he looked for fi re alarms and couldn’t fi nd any. Other members of his team helped with evacuations and pulled alarms, he said. “I feel like I’m not a hero. I just did what everyone else would have done,” he said. “It’s our job. We’re to go in and pro- tect the citizens, and that’s what I did.” St. John, a father of three, underwent lengthy surgery Wednesday to insert a rod in his leg bone, but he appeared in good spirits Thursday. He spoke softly from a reclining position in his hospi- tal bed. He had small cuts on his forehead, cheeks, hands and ears from debris from the blast. When fi rst-responders fi rst pulled up, the gas was so thick the fi refi ghters could see waves in the air, St. John said. He and other fi refi ght- ers decided to don protective masks, he said. “That’s about right when the explosion happened, when we got our masks,” he said. “Next thing I knew, I saw the explo- sion from the basement to the third fl oor.” The building blew up in three blasts — one for each level— with a slight pause between each boom, he said. “I think there was fi re because I saw orange. I must have blacked out a little ... because I felt the heat wave push me back and the next thing I knew I was on the ground, just in pain,” he said. As St. John waited to be OBITUARY Breezy with occasional rain Periods of rain The blast reduced to rub- ble a 110-year-old building that housed a bagel shop and other businesses in the popular NW 23rd Street shopping district. The walls and windows of a nearby building were blown out, and businesses three blocks away reported that their doors fl ew open from the force of the blast. The intersections near the blast site were still closed Thursday. NW Natural released a timeline saying the explosion occurred at 9:38 a.m., when many businesses were still closed. Portland’s Northwest 23rd Street — nicknamed “Trendy Third” — is packed with bou- tiques, bars and restaurants. Many are on street level with pricey apartments on the upper levels and a day care facility in the vicinity. Construction workers nicked a three-quarter-inch nat- ural gas line outside the build- ing and gas collected inside. But the ignition source has yet to be determined. Donald Melvin Brunner ALMANAC REGIONAL WEATHER Shown is tomorrow's weather. Temperatures are tonight's lows and tomorrow's highs. ASTORIA 47/62 Astoria through Thursday. Temperatures High/low ....................................... 62°/49° Normal high/low ........................... 60°/44° Record high ............................ 76° in 1938 Record low ............................. 33° in 1949 Tillamook 47/61 Oct 22 New Oct 30 Coos Bay 48/64 Full Nov 7 Source: Jim Todd, OMSI TOMORROW'S TIDES Astoria / Port Docks Time 12:59 a.m. 1:08 p.m. Low -0.1 ft. 2.8 ft. City Atlanta Boston Chicago Denver Des Moines Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Honolulu Indianapolis Kansas City Las Vegas Los Angeles Memphis Miami Nashville New Orleans New York Oklahoma City Philadelphia St. Louis Salt Lake City San Francisco Seattle Washington, DC Hi 69 69 54 75 62 55 77 24 85 56 62 85 94 66 87 62 80 76 69 79 60 68 72 59 78 Klamath Falls 32/60 Lakeview 32/62 Ashland 43/63 REGIONAL CITIES City Baker City Bend Brookings Eugene Ilwaco Klamath Falls Medford Newberg Newport North Bend Hi 61 59 59 62 58 63 65 61 59 62 Today Lo 31 34 48 46 50 32 44 45 48 49 W c pc c sh r pc r sh sh sh Hi 57 61 59 63 60 60 65 61 60 64 Sat. Lo W 33 c 41 c 51 c 48 c 53 r 34 pc 44 c 49 c 51 r 53 r City Olympia Pendleton Portland Roseburg Salem Seaside Spokane Springfi eld Vancouver Yakima Hi 58 58 62 61 62 60 54 61 61 62 Today Lo 44 44 48 46 46 49 41 45 49 38 W r c sh sh sh r c c sh c Hi 59 61 63 66 62 61 53 64 62 62 Sat. Lo 45 42 49 50 49 53 40 48 50 41 W c pc c c c r pc c c pc TOMORROW'S NATIONAL WEATHER NATIONAL CITIES Today Lo 47 60 36 40 43 38 51 6 75 38 45 63 60 44 69 41 60 54 47 53 43 48 56 47 50 Burns 32/60 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016 Tonight's Sky: The Orionid meteor shower will peak tonight (20 per hour). High 7.3 ft. 7.7 ft. Ontario 41/65 Roseburg 46/66 Brookings 48/59 Nov 14 Baker 31/57 John Day 41/60 Bend 34/61 Medford 44/65 UNDER THE SKY Time 7:34 a.m. 6:57 p.m. Prineville 34/63 Lebanon 44/64 Eugene 46/63 First La Grande 41/60 Salem 46/62 Newport 48/60 SUN AND MOON Sunset tonight ........................... 6:18 p.m. Sunrise Saturday ........................ 7:43 a.m. Moonrise today ........................ 11:29 p.m. Moonset today ........................... 1:43 p.m. Pendleton 44/61 The Dalles 45/64 Portland 48/63 Precipitation Thursday .......................................... 0.70" Month to date ................................. 13.35" Normal month to date ....................... 3.23" Year to date .................................... 56.32" Normal year to date ........................ 43.72" Last Astoria March 31, 1925 — Oct. 16, 2016 W s r pc s s sh s pc sh pc s s s s pc pc pc t s t s s s c t Hi 66 65 60 80 71 53 83 23 83 59 71 90 82 70 85 65 76 55 76 58 69 71 68 59 61 Sat. Lo 46 43 43 43 50 42 55 4 75 46 52 65 60 50 67 44 59 45 53 45 53 49 54 48 47 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W s sh pc pc s pc pc c pc pc s s s s s s s r s pc s pc s c pc Donald Melvin Brunner, a lifelong Clat- ing and fi shing. He was especially fond of his sop County resident, died on Oct. 16, 2016, in two grandchildren, and loved going to their Renton, Washington. He was born on March baseball and soccer games. 31, 1925, in Olney, to Oscar Brunner and Anna On June 12, 1948, he married Jean Johnson, Sunell Brunner. He resided in Olney who survives. Also surviving are a with his family until the early 1940s daughter and son-in-law, Donna Jean when they moved to the Alderbrook and Eric Moberly of Renton, Wash- area of Astoria, where he continued to ington; two grandchildren, Andrew and Catherine Moberly; several nieces live. and nephews; and many cousins. Prior to World War II, he was All of his siblings predeceased employed by CRPA Cannery, later him; brothers Chester and Jack to become Bumble Bee Seafoods. Brunner, and sisters Rose (Dotty) During the war, he participated in the Sorensen, Lillian Strom and Betty Normandy i nvasion with the Blue Schwartzenbach. and Gray 29th Army Infantry Divi- At his request, there will be no sion. After his discharge in 1946, he Donald Brunner funeral. A private internment will be was employed by Holmes Motor Co. at Ocean View Cemetery. in the body and fender department. Memorial contributions may be made to the Subsequently, he became a logger with W & W Logging, Martin Nygaard Logging and D & R American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society. Timber Company. He retired in 1986. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary is in Don was a lifetime member of the Elks, BPOE No. 180, a member of the Ameri- charge of the arrangements. An online guest can Legion Post No. 12 and the Brownsmead book to leave condolences may be signed at Grange. He loved the outdoors, especially hunt- www.caldwellsmortuary.com CORRECTION LOTTERIES Name misspelled — Robert Stricklin serves on the Skipanon Water Control District. His last name was misspelled in a 1A story Wednesday about the Eighth Street Dam. PUBLIC MEETINGS MONDAY Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. TUESDAY Clatsop Care Health District Board, noon, Clatsop Care Memory Community, 2219 S.E. Dolphin Road, Warrenton. Astoria Library Board, 5:30 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow fl urries, sn-snow, i-ice. p.m., Astoria Public Library Flag Room, 450 10th St. Warrenton City Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 225 S. Main Ave. Astoria Traffic Safety Committee, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 1095 Duane St. Astoria Planning Commis- sion, immediately following Traffi c Safety Committee, City Hall, 1095 Duane St. OREGON Thursday’s Pick 4: 1 p.m.: 8-3-9-2 4 p.m.: 9-9-7-1 7 p.m.: 5-9-0-1 10 p.m.: 7-6-0-5 WASHINGTON Thursday’s Daily Game: 1-0-9 Thursday’s Keno: 02-03- 19-22-23-27-29-31-32-35- 41-55-62-66-71-73-74-75- 78-79 Thursday’s Match 4: 03-11- 12-14 OBITUARY POLICY The Daily Astorian publishes paid obituaries. The obituary can include a small photo and, for veterans, a fl ag symbol at no charge. The deadline for all obituaries is 9 a.m. the business day prior. Obituaries may be edited for spelling, proper punctuation and style. Death notices and upcoming services will be published at no charge. Notices must be submitted by 9 a.m. the day of publication. Obituaries and notices may be submitted online at www.dailyastorian.com/forms/obits, by email at ewilson@dailyastorian.com, placed via the funeral home or in person at The Daily Astorian offi ce, 949 Exchange St. in Astoria. For more information, call 503-325-3211, ext. 257. Follow us on The Daily Astorian Established July 1, 1873 (USPS 035-000) Published daily, except Saturday and Sunday, by EO Media Group, 949 Exchange St., PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103 Telephone 503- 325-3211, 800-781-3211 or Fax 503-325-6573. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Daily Astorian, PO Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103-0210 www.dailyastorian.com MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Associated Press is entitled exclusively to the use for republication of all the local news printed in this newspaper. SUBSCRIBER TO THE NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE ASTORIA: 239 14th Street • (503) 325-3972 MEMBER CERTIFIED AUDIT OF CIRCULATIONS, INC. 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