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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2020
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APPEAL TRIBUNE
Questions about air quality answered
The air quality in Salem, Eugene and
across western Oregon is at unhealthy
levels due to the wildfires.
Smoke can irritate the eyes and lungs
and worsen some medical conditions, the
Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality said in a news release. Local hos-
pitals are seeing patients with asthma-
like symptoms and experts suggest resi-
dents stay indoors as much as possible.
Check your area's air quality
Check oregonsmoke.blogspot.com for
the latest information in your area.
The site is a compilation of informa-
tion from local, state, tribal and federal
organizations.
There's also a mobile app from the
Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality. Search for OregonAir in your app
store.
The website AirNow.gov lets you plug
in your Zip Code to check the air quality
for today and tomorrow. It also shows
trends in your area, and even where the
air quality monitors are in your area.
What do the air quality numbers
mean?
The U.S. Air Quality Index is the stan-
dard measurement of air quality nation-
wide. It is on a scale of 0 to 500. The high-
er the number, the worse the air. It also
uses colors, ranging from green to ma-
roon.
h Green, good, 0-50, air quality is sat-
isfactory.
h Yellow, moderate, 51-100, air quality
is acceptable.
h Orange, unhealthy for sensitive
groups, 101-150, members of sensitive
groups may experience health effects.
h Red, unhealthy, 151-200, some mem-
bers of the general public may experience
health effects.
h Purple, very unhealthy, 201-300,
health alert: the risk of health effects is in-
creased for everyone.
h Maroon, hazardous, 301 and higher,
health warning: everyone is likely to be
affected.
What's in the smoke?
Smoke contains gasses, water vapor,
air pollutants and small particles. The
small particles are the most dangerous —
they can be inhaled into the lungs and
cause respiratory and cardiovascular
problems.
Young children, adults over 65, preg-
nant women and people with heart dis-
ease, asthma or other respiratory condi-
tions are most at risk.
What do I do if the AQI levels are
high?
Keep indoor air as clean as possible.
Keep windows and doors closed. Use a
high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) fil-
ter and change it more often.
Oregonians have been getting creative
with furnace filters and box fans to quick-
ly clean indoor rooms. Multnomah Coun-
ty has a video on how to make one your-
self.
Stay inside. Avoid vigorous outdoor
exercise.
Drink plenty of water. Moist airways
help with breathing and water helps re-
move smoke particles.
Will a mask protect me?
The cloth or medical masks many have
been wearing as part of COVID-19 preven-
tion efforts will not offer protection from
the tiny particles the smoke is carrying.
N95 masks do offer some protection.
What about my animals?
Limit outdoor exercise for animals. Let
animals outside only for brief bathroom
breaks.
Bring outdoor pets into a room with
good ventilation, like a utility room, ga-
Electric
Fires race through Santiam
Canyon
Continued from Page 1A
Thirteen fires between Detroit and
Mehama ignited overnight on Monday,
Sept. 7, fire officials said last week.
A “significant amount of wind”
downed transmission and power lines
and started multiple fires, Mariana
Ruiz-Temple, then-chief deputy state
fire marshal, told reporters on Sept. 9.
John Spencer, planning operations
trainee on Northwest Incident Manage-
ment Team 13, a multidisciplinary team
responding to the Beachie Creek fire,
described one fire at a command post
near Gates on Labor Day.
“The residential power grid was get-
ting whipped,” Spencer told reporters in
a Sept. 13 briefing, “And we had a tree go
down and drop a power line right onto
our ... (command post’s) chain-link pe-
rimeter fence ... and set everything on
fire in 360 degrees around that incident
command post.”
It took about an hour to get it under
control, Spencer said.
“But in the meantime, numerous fires
started all over the community of Gates,
and extending out along the Highway 22
corridor,” he said.
“Wind speeds of up to 50 mph gusts
were blowing those fires into raging fires
and they were connecting,” Spencer
said. “We at that time pulled the trigger,
and had to get our resources out,” and
left Gates and headed to Stayton.
ing “public safety power shutoffs” in
California last year in the wake of the
2018 Camp Fire, which killed 85 people
and torched more than 153,000 acres in
Northern California.
The California Department of Forest-
ry and Fire Protection determined one of
the utility’s power transmission lines
failed during high winds in November
2018, touching off a fire that started a
wind-driven blaze that ripped through
several small communities.
PG&E was charged criminally and in
June agreed to plead guilty to 84 counts
of manslaughter and one count of ille-
gally starting a fire. The company
agreed to a $4 million fine in the case.
The company declared bankruptcy
after the fire and has proposed paying
$13.5 billion to victims of the Camp Fire.
All told, PG&E has agreed to pay about
$25.5 billion to victims of fires dating
back to 2015.
Hoping to avoid a repeat of events
that led to the Camp Fire, PG&E issued
several power shutoffs in 2019, when the
weather forecast included high temper-
atures, strong winds and low humidity.
Pacific Power implemented a power
shutoff earlier this week to about 2,500
customers in Siskiyou County, just
south of the Oregon state line, when
strong winds and high temperatures
were in the forecast.
With preemptive power shutoffs be-
coming a more common practice, why
didn’t every utility shut the power off in
Santiam Canyon? The answer is com-
plicated.
Scott Owen, a public information of-
ficer for the Beachie Creek Fire, said
Monday that it was not clear how many
fires within the Beachie Creek Fire start-
ed by downed power lines, and investi-
gators do not know which power com-
pany owned the lines that fell around
the fire’s incident command post in
Gates.
“We don’t know for sure the cause of
all of these,” Bob Jenks, executive direc-
tor of the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board,
which advocates for power consumers,
said of the fires. “But the electric system
is a suspect in some of them.”
Bonneville Power spokesman Doug
Johnson said the utility doesn’t “have
any evidence that any of our equipment
was involved in the ignition of any of the
fires currently burning in the North-
west.”
Pacific Power spokesman Tom
Gauntt told the Statesman Journal that:
“Shutting off power to our service terri-
tory in advance of the event could have
created more issues for suppression and
evacuation efforts.
“It appears fires outside our service
territory existed before the wind event
and may have caused or contributed to
the current situation,” Gauntt said in a
written statement.
He declined to answer a list of list of
follow-up questions.
Decisions about power supply in
the Santiam Canyon
Consumers Power and Pacific Power
serve most of the residents of the com-
munities along U.S. Highway 22, ac-
cording to an Oregon Department of En-
ergy map of service areas.
Portland General Electric serves
some residents north of the highway in
towns like Sublimity and Estacada. And
Bonneville Power Administration runs
transmission lines through the Santiam
Canyon area.
The National Weather Service in
Portland started issuing warnings on
Friday, Sept. 4 that there were would be
high winds in northwestern Oregon and
southwestern Washington.
The warnings were escalated Satur-
Workers continue to repair the power
system after flames from the Beachie
Creek Fire burned through Fishermen's
Bend Recreation Site east of Salem,
Oregon. The wildfire caused the
evacuation of 40,000 residents, killing
four people and five are still missing.
ROB SCHUMACHER/STATESMAN JOURNAL
day to a “red flag” warning, meaning fire
risk was high and there was a higher
likelihood of a fast-moving fire within
24 hours.
By Monday, weather forecasters ex-
pected extreme winds.
Pacific Power posted on Twitter at
9:09 a.m. Monday that “high winds are
forecast for later today in many parts of
our area” and pointed customers toward
“storm ready tips.”
At 10:11 a.m. Sept. 7, Consumers Pow-
er posted on Twitter that it would be op-
erating “under extreme fire condition
protocols,” citing the forecast for high
winds and high temperatures.
“Please prepare for the possibility of
longer than normal power interrup-
tions,” the announcement said.
That morning, Consumers Power de-
cided to disable a process that automat-
ically restores power when a line is hit
by something, said James Ramseyer,
member services director and spokes-
man for Consumers Power.
“A lot of times you’ll have a branch go
into the power lines from a tree or some-
thing like that, and it doesn’t take the
lines down and the branch falls through
the lines and on to the ground,” Ram-
seyer said.
In normal conditions, the system
automatically restores power after
about two or three seconds. The change
Consumers made meant that if debris
hit the line, the power would remain off
to reduce the risk of fire.
Just before 5 p.m., Consumers Power
learned the Beachie Creek Fire was
moving west in the Santiam Canyon.
“We could tell by the way the wind
was blowing up there that it was a pretty
dangerous situation,” Ramseyer said.
“So we just made the call to shut it off ”
at about 7 p.m.
Customers who had electricity-pow-
ered pumps for their wells called Con-
sumers Power, complaining they
couldn’t pump water to keep the flames
off their houses, Ramseyer said.
Pacific Power said after outages be-
gan the company sent out safety infor-
mation about avoiding downed lines.
The Lane Electric co-op also decided
to shut off power Monday evening as
windstorms and fires threatened its ser-
vice area. And like Consumers Power,
Lane Electric had earlier decided to stop
letting its lines automatically come back
on after getting hit by debris.
As the evening went on, the wind,
relative humidity and temperature con-
ditions “were fast deteriorating,” said
Jonathan Farmer, manager for member
and public affairs at Lane Electric.
“It was apparent from reports from
the field that this was not going to let up
any time soon and that significant out-
ages were imminent,” he said in a writ-
ten statement. “So, to ensure the safety
of our communities, the decision was
made to de-energize our system some-
time Monday evening.”
Crews went out Tuesday to re-ener-
gize some of the lines, but Lane Electric
shut everything off again at 6 p.m. Tues-
day.
Number of fires started by power
lines, ownership undetermined
It is not clear how many fires within
the Beachie Creek Fire were started by
power lines, said Scott Owen, a public
information officer for the Beachie
Creek Fire. And fire officials do not know
which power company owned the lines
that fell around the incident command
post.
Gov. Kate Brown on Sunday told CBS
News’ program “Face The Nation” that
she also did not have clarity on how the
fires started.
“That’ll be investigated over the days
and weeks ahead, but I have to tell you,
we saw the perfect firestorm,” Brown
said. “
We saw incredible winds. We saw
very cold, hot temperatures. And of
course, we have a landscape that has
seen 30 years of drought.”
The chair of the state’s Public Utility
Commission said on Sept. 11 that the
commission “has no information attrib-
uting any specific wildfire to any specif-
ic Oregon utility.” The commission con-
firmed it still has no such information as
of Tuesday.
The Public Utility Commission regu-
lates utilities that are owned by inves-
tors such as Pacific Power. There are
other utilities, like Consumers Power,
Inc., in Oregon that are owned by their
customers.
“As with every major fire, full investi-
gations will deliver the facts that we
need to determine root causes, includ-
ing information about whether utility
lines were a primary ignition source,”
said Megan Decker, chair of the Public
Utility Commission, in a written state-
ment.
“Accurate, objectively determined
facts are what we need to keep Orego-
nians safe from rapidly evolving fire
threats in a changing climate.”
Oregon utilities decide when to
shut power off
Utilities are under pressure to take
measures to prevent worsening fires as
the American west faces more severe
fire seasons.
In Oregon, it’s up to the companies to
decide when to do a preemptive shutoff.
“That decision ... lies with the utility
as they know their system the best and
are responsible for operating it safely,”
rage, or bathroom.
Provide plenty of fresh water. Like
with people, it will help with breathing
and the removal of particles from the air-
ways.
Call your veterinarian if your animal is
coughing, gagging, has red or watery
eyes, reduced appetite or thirst, or is hav-
ing trouble breathing.
How do I clean up the ash?
Do not allow children to play in ash.
Clean ash off pets and other animals.
If you are cleaning ash, avoid direct
contact with it. Wear a tight-fitting N95
mask, goggles, gloves, long-sleeved shirt,
long pants, shoes and socks.
Before sweeping up ash, mist it with
water to keep the dust down. Try wet
mopping or wiping with a damp cloth.
Don't use a vacuum, leaf blower, or
anything that will send the ash back out
into the air.
Wash any home-grown fruits or vege-
tables before you at them.
Collected ash can be thrown into the
regular trash. Store it in plastic bags or
other containers to prevent it from being
stirred up.
Support local journalism. Subscribe
to the Statesman Journal today.
said Kandi Young, a spokeswoman for
Oregon’s Public Utility Commission.
Young said shutting off power can
mean vulnerable people and first re-
sponders can miss out on critical
communications.
At the same time, Oregon has ac-
knowledged the fire risk that power
lines pose.
In January 2019, Brown convened a
council to study what wasn’t working
about how the state prevents and fights
wildfires.
In November 2019, the council said
utilities should do more to prevent fires.
“As the frequency, intensity and du-
ration of wildfires has increased in the
West, electric and utility companies
must take additional measures to re-
duce the risk of transmission-related
fire events,” the report states. “Due to
the often remote location, power line
fires have the potential to be larger than
fires from other causes.”
The commission just started a proc-
ess to determine the scope of new rules
that will require utilities to have the
commission review their wildfire miti-
gation plans in more depth, according to
Young.
The notion of utilities doing preemp-
tive shutoffs is relatively new, prompted
by recent fires in California, Young said.
In March, Brown issued a sweeping
executive order that among other things
directed the public utility commission
to convene “workshops” to help electric
companies and co-ops “develop and
share best practices for mitigating wild-
fire risk.”
The commission asked Pacific Power
and PGE to report on their wildfire miti-
gation plans last year, and this year
asked all three investor-owned utilities
operating in Oregon to provide updates
on those plans, according to the com-
mission’s executive director, Michael
Grant.
Grant said the utility commission can
hold utilities accountable if they haven’t
“reasonably and proactively” managed
risks.
“The utilities are required to provide
safe and reliable service, and the (com-
mission) expects these utilities to
proactively engage in all hazards-risk
planning,” including for storms and
wildfire, Grant said in a written state-
ment.
The commission determines what
utilities can charge customers for ser-
vices.
Through that process, Grant said, the
commission can “review the conduct of
a utility and exclude costs from custom-
er rates related to impudent actions,
whether or not there were safety rules
governing the specific situation.”
State law also allows the commission
to impose penalties on any utility found
to have “violated an order or lawful re-
quirement imposed by” the commis-
sion.
Utility companies are supposed to
have programs to manage vegetation
around their power lines, and that has
been in place for decades, said Jenks,
the executive director of the Oregon Cit-
izens’ Utility Board.
“Now, I think one of the questions
we’re all going to have to look at is, are
the requirements to those plans ade-
quate?” Jenks said. “But also, were the
companies following those plans? Just
because you have a requirement that
they have some sort of plan... that
doesn’t mean that they’re executing it
well.”
“We’ll learn a lot from this,” Jenks
said. “But that doesn’t do anything for
the folks who have lost life or property,
homes and other things because of it.”
Record Searchlight reporter Damon
Arthur contributed.
Claire Withycombe is a reporter at
the Statesman Journal. Contact her at
cwithycombe@statesmanjournal.com,
503-910-3821 or follow on Twitter
@kcwithycombe.