The Nugget
Vol. XLIII No. 36
P OSTAL CUSTOMER
News and Opinion
from Sisters, Oregon
www.NuggetNews.com
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Sisters, OR
Permit No. 15
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Firefighters gain 75 percent
containment on Green Ridge Fire
City has a
vision for
Lazy Z land
By Jim Cornelius
Editor in Chief
PHOTO BY JASON DARRAH
Fire crews battled tough terrain and weather conditions to gain 75 percent containment on the Green Ridge Fire as of Monday.
Firefighters battled the
Green Ridge Fire to a stand-
still a week ago, and have
since gained the upper hand.
The fire area stands at 4,338
acres in size, a footprint that
has been held for days as
firefighters secured 75 per-
cent containment.
Bulldozers and hand
crews built the containment
lines surrounding the Green
Ridge Fire, which passed
a major wind test Saturday
afternoon. Holding the fire
in place with no reported spot
fires was a major milestone
in a fight where difficult ter-
rain, hot, dry temperatures
and dry fuels challenged
firefighters.
F i r e f i g h t i n g c r e w s
observed a private drone
flying over the Green Ridge
Fire area Sunday afternoon.
The Oregon Department
of Forestry9s Incident
Management Team noted
that while fire activity has
diminished, aircraft is still
being used to support ground
operations.
<Even a tiny drone can
cause a serious or fatal
accident if it collides with
firefighting aircraft,= the
team stated. In most situa-
tions, if drones are spotted
near a wildfire, firefighting
aircraft must land due to
safety concerns. Per the U.S.
Code of Federal Regulations,
43 CFR 9212.1(f), it is ille-
gal to resist or interfere with
the efforts of firefighter(s) to
extinguish a fire. Doing so
can result in a significant fine
and/or a mandatory court
appearance. So, be smart
and just don9t fly your drone
anywhere near a wildfire. No
amount of video or photos
are worth the consequences.=
Fire crews continued to
have favorable weather for
mop-up operations.
The ODF team was to
hand the fire back to local
resources this week as the
fire activity slowed down.
Incident Commander Link
Smith and his team were to
transfer the fire to a Type 4
organization Wednesday,
September 2.
Sisters Country will return
See FIRE on page 18
Habitat for raptors. Public
walking trails. A safe high-
way viewpoint.
Those are elements the
City of Sisters hopes to see in
a new master plan for a por-
tion of the 230.9-acre Lazy Z
Ranch property that the City
acquired years ago for efflu-
ent disposal.
<What we know,= said
Public Works Director Paul
Bertagna, <is that the western
area of the ranch is not suit-
able for effluent dispersal.=
That9s because years of
flood irrigation washed away
soil that would absorb the
effluent.
<We have some habitat out
there; we have water rights,=
Bertagna said. <We have
some raptors; we have bald
eagles nesting out there. We
want to protect that and have
the public be able to enjoy it
through a series of walking
trails.=
To that end, the City has
issued a request for proposal
for a Lazy Z Master Plan (see
See VISION on page 23
Slowing of COVID cases Deputies selected for Sisters duty
bodes well for schools
By Sue Stafford
Correspondent
By Charlie Kanzig
Correspondent
A decline in COVID-19
cases in Oregon may mean
good news for reopening
Sisters schools.
T h e O r e g o n H e a l t h
Authority reported an update
to the media on Thursday,
August 27 regarding the
latest metrics related to
the reopening of schools
in Oregon. OHA Director
Patrick Allen led the telecon-
ference with input offered
also by Dr. Dean Sidelinger,
an Oregon State Health
Officer.
Much of the news indi-
cated that cases of COVID-
19 are slowing in most of the
state, including in Deschutes
Inside...
County.
The measurement most
important to schools reopen-
ing is the number of cases
per 100,000 people. A ratio
of 30 cases per 100,000
allows grades K-3 students to
be considered for in-person
school, while the standards
for grades 4-12 is 10 per
100,000.
More specifically, accord-
ing to the Oregon Department
of Education website, the
metrics state that for schools
to reopen the case rate for
the county where the school
is located must hold over a
seven-day span for three con-
secutive weeks. The test pos-
itivity rate in the county also
See SCHOOL on page 12
The three Deschutes
County Sheriff 9s Office
(DCSO) deputies who will
be serving full-time within
the city of Sisters start-
ing September 12, were
announced last week. Sisters
City Councilors had ear-
lier had the opportunity to
interview candidates for
the positions. The full-time
permanent lieutenant will
be announced later this fall.
Until that time, Lt. William
Bailey is acting as the
interim supervisor.
All three deputies are
experienced members of the
DCSO.
Deputy Bryan Morris, a
resident of Sisters Country,
will have a much shorter
commute to work, as his
PHOTO PROVIDED
Lt. William Bailey and Deputy Bryan Morris were on foot patrol in
Sisters last week. Such patrols are going to be a regular part of the
duties of the deputies who are assigned here under the revised
City of Sisters/DCSO law enforcement contract.
previous assignment was
as the resource officer at
La Pine High School. He has
been assigned to the Sisters
station since June 1. Bailey
and Morris have conducted
See DEPUTIES on page 18
Letters/Weather ............... 2 Sisters Naturalist .............. 6 Announcements ...............10 In the Pines......................14 Classifieds .................. 19-21
Meetings .......................... 3 Obituaries .....................8-9 Entertainment ................. 11 Crossword .......................18 Real Estate .................21-24