LOCAL
2A — THE OBSERVER
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2019
Brown’s council projects big bill to manage wildfire
■ ■ Improving state’s
response to wildfire
could cost $4 billion
By Cassandra Profita
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — Oregon Gov. Kate
Brown got a progress report from
her Council on Wildfire Response
on Thursday, and it came with a
hefty price tag.
The board is advising the gov-
ernor on how to change the state’s
wildfire policy in response to grow-
ing wildfire risks from overstocked
forests, population growth and
climate change.
Council Chair Matt Donegan
told the governor that one of the
major changes the board is recom-
mending is increased investment in
wildfire suppression.
“It just stands to reason that
in an era of climate change, in an
era of fuel buildup and in an era of
population growth and increased
wildfire activity that we’re going to
have to spend more resources sup-
pressing fire,” he said.
He said the state will need an
estimated $4 billion in “a multi-de-
cade initiative that will involve sig-
nificant state, federal and private
investment” to reduce wildfire risks
through actions such as logging
overstocked forestland.
“That number feels a bit over-
whelming,” Brown said in response.
“But I think it’s critically impera-
tive that we bite off a significant
chunk right now — immediately.”
The governor said she wants to
spend more to improve wildland
firefighting capabilities, increase
controlled burning and help com-
munities live with more wildfire
smoke.
“There isn’t really a fire sea-
son anymore. It’s year-round. It’s
increasing in Oregon and frankly
around the entire globe,” she said.
“I obviously know we need to do
things differently and we need
different tools and we clearly need
additional resources.”
Critics say the council’s early rec-
ommendations are biased toward
logging and putting out wildfires
rather than letting forests burn as
they naturally would and making
homes more fire-resistant.
Ralph Bloemers with the Crag
Law Center said he’s worried the
state will be relying too much on
destructive logging to help pay for
its new policy.
“My big concern is that the forest
is going to be asked to pay for it.
Which means the thing that we
love, that we’re trying to restore, is
going to be degraded,” he said. “And
there’s going to be more opportuni-
ties for fire to visit that landscape.”
In a letter to the council, Dominick
DellaSala, chief scientist at the Geos
Institute, said the kind of logging the
council’s early reports advise “will
not protect communities, stop fires in
extreme conditions, or prevent smoke
from affecting our communities.”
“Simply put, we cannot log/
manage or suppress our way out of
wildfires,” he wrote. “As the climate
changes and we experience more
drought and extreme tempera-
tures, we can expect more extreme
fire weather that will overtake our
ability to suppress fire.”
He advised the council to focus
on solutions that help people live
with fire such as making homes
more fireproof and adding smoke
shelters for communities near
forests.
In response to critics, the gov-
ernor said redesigning the state’s
wildfire policy is “a balancing act”
and she’s hoping that a combina-
tion of strategies will help avoid
negative wildfire impacts like the
ones Oregon experienced with the
Eagle Creek Fire in the Columbia
River Gorge in 2017.
Ex-Baker County fire chief cleared of misconduct charges
■ ■ Dan Weitz was accused of defrauding
Bend Fire Department in purchase of
used air compressor for Baker rural
By Garrett Andrews
EO Media Group
BEND — A rural Eastern
Oregon fire chief was found
not guilty of official miscon-
duct this week in a De-
schutes County courtroom.
Dan Weitz, former chief
of Baker Rural Fire Protec-
tion District, stood trial in
Deschutes County Circuit
Court for misconduct and
first-degree theft by decep-
tion. Weitz, 62, was alleged
to have deceived the Bend
Fire Department when he
bought a used air compres-
sor at a deep discount in
May 2017.
The case played out over
two days before Judge Ste-
phen Forte. A number of fire
officials made the five-hour
drive from Baker County to
testify and watch proceed-
ings. In the end, Forte chas-
tised Weitz for his business
ethics but ruled the charges
didn’t fit Weitz’s conduct.
“After listening to tes-
timony and based on the
evidence, it’s clear to the
court that the defendant was
playing fast and loose with
the rules,” Forte said.
Air compressors are
important in firefighting
as they provide the breath-
able air used in body-worn
respiratory systems. All
departments need them,
though they’re an especially
big-ticket item for smaller
agencies.
At the center of this case
is a 1991 Jordair SCBA
Garrett Andrews/EO Media Group
Dan Weitz, former chief of Baker Rural Fire Protection
District, during his trial in Deschutes County Circuit
Court, was found not guilty of official misconduct.
5,000-PSI air compressor
that Bend Fire took out of
service in 2017. A photo of
the compressor, which is
about 8 feet long, 5 feet tall
and 5 feet deep, was entered
into evidence.
Compressor technology
has come a long way in the
past few decades. In addition
to new air quality standards,
systems require three-phase
power service, which is costly
to install in buildings — (up-
ward of $10,000) but overall
save districts electricity, and
thus money.
Weitz joined Baker Rural
in 2004 and was appointed
chief in 2014. His predecessor
experienced a strained rela-
tionship with the district’s
board of directors, according
to testimony from both sides.
This pattern continued after
the predecessor selected
Weitz as his replacement, and
through the difficult 2015 fire
season. The Cornet-Windy
Ridge Fire caused numerous
evacuations that summer
around Baker County. Weitz
testified he and Baker Sheriff
Travis Ash quarreled during
this period about how the
evacuations were handled
and how resources were
distributed.
Along with his involve-
ment in fire service, Weitz
has long kept numerous
side businesses, he testi-
fied. He estimated he
manages seven ventures,
including land develop-
ment and equipment
refurbishing.
In early 2017, Weitz
started an LLC in Oregon
— Baker Rural Fire and
Rescue — so he could begin
selling used fire equipment
to rural agencies.
In May of that year,
Weitz attended the annual
conference of the Oregon
Fire Chiefs Association
at the Eagle Crest Resort
in Redmond. There, he
met Bob Madden, Bend’s
deputy fire chief.
He learned from Mad-
den that Bend Fire had
recently upgraded com-
pressors and had a 1991
Jordair unit sitting under
a tarp in one of its parking
lots, needing a new home.
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