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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (July 18, 2018)
WEDNESDAY, JULY 18, 2018 ܂ SILVERTONAPPEAL.COM PART OF THE USA TODAY NETWORK Steep terrain bedevils firefighters Wildfire burns in remote area of Silver Falls State Park Connor Radnovich Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK More than a day after smoke was first noticed in Sil- ver Falls State Park, fire crews were finally able to reach the blaze Saturday after having cut through brush up to 3 feet deep on steep terrain in a previously unreachable area of the forest. Consistent bombardment from air tankers and heli- copters bought the ground crews time to get to the Sil- ver Creek Fire, with more than 60,000 gallons of water and fire retardant dropped around the blaze. That helped keep the fire at between 12 and 15 acres. It hasn’t grown significantly since the air drops began Friday, and officials said the fire was about 10 percent contained. But the same thick growth that crews had to cut through also limited the effectiveness of the water and retardant. “Planes have to drop a full load all at once just to get through the canopy,” said Brent O’Nion, incident com- mander for the Silver Creek Fire. Even then, he said, the tall underbrush keeps the retardant from reaching the ground, allowing the fire to creep along beneath. In addition, because the fire is burning along Silver Creek, use of the retardant is somewhat restricted. En- vironmental regulations require retardant not be used with 300 feet of a creek; O’Nion said his crews keep it 400 to 600 feet away to be extra careful. This effectively meant that crews could only fight the fire from one side. More than 100 personnel, a handful of planes and helicopters and several trucks and other pieces of See WILDFIRE, Page 2A Mario Garcia, left, and José Perez work with a team to extinguish a portion of the Silver Creek Fire in Oregon’s Silver Falls State Park on Saturday. CONNOR RADNOVICH/STATESMAN JOURNAL Despite concerns, business is good Oregon faces widespread drought, fire danger Zach Urness Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK Shawn Anderson, 42, of Camas, Wash., with his son Carter Anderson, 10, get read to boat amid a water quality advisory from the Oregon Health Authority for Detroit Lake on July 9. Despite the algae blooms, there have only been slight drops in sales at local businesses. PHOTOS BY ANNA REED/STATESMAN JOURNAL Detroit tourism stays strong amid algae bloom issues Bill Poehler Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK DETROIT – Over the past few years, businesses in Detroit, like Detroit Lake Marina and Mountain High Grocery, have been through worst-case scenarios. An economy that relies heavily on summer tourism has been hit hard repeatedly: the drought of 2015, low water levels in 2016 and nearby wildfires in 2017. And then this year: blue-green algae blooms sent toxins pouring into corners of the lake and into the North Santiam River. Multiple on-and-off recreation- al use health advisories for lake visitors soon fol- lowed. “I’m sure it’s impacted businesses because it scares people away from the recreational part of the lake,” said Shawn Anderson, who travels to the lake from Camas, Wash., with his family five or 10 times a year. “Inevitably it impacts businesses around here, See BUSINESS, Page 3A Kane’s Marina is full of activity despite a water quality advisory from the Oregon Health Authority for Detroit Lake. Oregon will enter the hottest time of the season already facing widespread drought and heightened wildfire danger. After a winter of below-average snowpack, and one of the hottest and driest spring seasons on rec- ord, much of Oregon could become a tinderbox by late summer and fall. Seventy percent of Oregon is already in severe or moderate drought and 95 percent is classified as “ab- normally dry,” according to a report issued Tuesday by the U.S. drought monitor. That’s due to May and June, which combined were the fifth-driest and eighth-hottest on record in the Willamette Valley, in records that go back to 1895, meteorologists at the National Weather Service said. “The month of May really started us down this path, with very hot and dry weather, that mostly con- tinued into June,” NWS meteorologist Matthew Cul- len said. “Looking forward, we’re expecting extreme- ly hot and dry conditions that look likely to continue into late July.” Those conditions have already brought more wild- fire than normal, and it’s expected to get worse. The number of acres burned by wildfires this sea- son — 125,000 acres — is already double that of re- cent years, according to numbers from the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. That trend is expected to continue, with 90 to 100 percent of the state facing above normal danger for “significant wildland fire potential” in July and Au- gust, according to a report by the National Interagen- cy Fire Center. “By late July, fire activity is expected to increase across Oregon and Washington,” the report said. “The prevailing thought is that the summer of 2018 will be another hot and dry one.” There's no guarantee this summer will mirror 2017, the most expensive wildfire season in Oregon history. But conditions are not ideal. “It's all contingent upon the weather, of course,” said Jessica Gardetto, spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center. “I've worked through fire seasons where everyone was predicting severe fire activity, but then the lightning storms didn't surface, so fire season ended up being normal to below nor- mal. “Basically, it's a guessing game at this point, but because Oregon already has some drought, if the weather stays hot and dry and we end up with light- ning, it could be another severe fire season for Ore- gon,” she said. Weather and wildfires facts Salem man claims $150M lotto ticket Olivia Heersink Salem Statesman Journal USA TODAY NETWORK After almost three weeks, the winner of the $150.4 million Powerball jackpot has finally stepped forward to claim his prize. Oregon Lottery officials revealed Friday morning that Steven Nickell of Salem is the owner of the lucky ticket purchased at the Circle K on Liberty Road South in Salem. Nickell told Lottery officials he had no idea he had won the Powerball jackpot when he turned in his 'quick pick,' single draw ticket. “When the clerk told me that wins over $600 have to go to the Lottery office, I thought I could buy my wife something nice for the Fourth of July,” he said. “I had no idea that ticket was worth $150 million." The winning numbers for the June 20 draw were 04-14-23-27-56 and Powerball 13. The announcement comes days after Oregon State Police troopers arrested a Lebanon man for sending an email to Lottery officials threatening some kind of shooting. Jason Ouellette, 42, apologized for the threats Fri- day, stating "I was angry at myself after losing a sub- stantial amount of money playing a lottery machine ܂ May and June, taken together, were the fifth- driest and eighth-hottest on record in the Willamette Valley See DANGER, Page 2A See LOTTO, Page 2A Online at SilvertonAppeal.com Vol. 137, No. 30 News updates: ܂ Breaking news ܂ Get updates from the Silverton area Photos: ܂ Photo galleries Serving the Silverton Area Since 1880 A Unique Edition of the Statesman Journal 50 cents ©2018 Printed on recycled paper Phill Bragg with Columbia Basin Helicopters talks to Civil Air Patrol cadets and members of the Oregon Department of Forestry as they learn how to refuel an air tanker on July 12 at Salem Municipal Airport. MOLLY J. SMITH/STATESMAN JOURNAL
