FROM PAGE ONE
A6 — THE OBSERVER
FIRE
Continued from Page A1
Double Creek Fire, cleared
brush and increased defensible
space around homes along the
Freezeout and Imnaha roads.
Firefi ghters secured a pri-
vate inholding (Section 36)
along Grizzly Ridge between
Buck Point and Pumpkin Creek.
Dozers cleared vegetation along
the power line in the Imnaha
River corridor. All the known
hunting parties were safely evac-
uated from the area.
According to a release from
the governor’s offi ce, the decla-
ration allows the Offi ce of the
State Fire Marshal to take uni-
fi ed command immediately. Wal-
lowa County Sheriff Joel Fish has
issued Level 3, Level 2 and Level
1 evacuation orders for homes
near the fi re.
Firefi ghters on Sept. 5 were
scouting for additional options on
the northern and southern por-
tions of the fi re. Crews will mop
up and patrol around structures
along Freezeout Road and north
along the Upper Imnaha Road.
Firing operations will continue
along the Upper Imnaha Road
to secure the fi re backing down
drainages to the east. State Fire
Marshal task forces will continue
to assist with structure protec-
tion along the Imnaha Road and
ensuring the protection of life
and property in the community of
Imnaha.
Brown’s declaration cleared
the way for the State Fire Mar-
shal to mobilize fi refi ghters
and equipment to assist local
resources battling the fi re and
further support a coordinated
response.
Local mutual aid and federal
resources are on scene working
to slow the fi re’s progress. An
OSFM Incident Management
Team assumed unifi ed com-
mand Sept. 3 with federal part-
ners. OSFM will bring in four
additional task forces through the
Oregon Fire Mutual Aid System
from Lane, Clatsop, Washington
and Yamhill counties to assist in
the response.
The Double Creek Fire is a
“full suppression” blaze, which
means offi cials are trying to
douse it as soon as possible.
The Wallowa County Sheriff ’s
Offi ce on Sept. 4 modifi ed the
evacuation levels for the Double
Creek Fire. A Level 3 “Go
Now” is in eff ect for the town of
Imnaha and south to Freezeout
Road. The Upper Imnaha Road,
Hat Point Road and Wallowa
Mountain Loop Road (Forest
Service Road 39) are closed. A
Level 2 “Get Set” is in eff ect for
the area from the town of Imnaha
north to Fence Creek, including
the lands east toward Lightning
Creek. A Level 1 “Be Ready” is
in eff ect from Freezeout south to
the Pallette Ranch and Imnaha
River Woods.
Eagle Cap Wilderness fi res
The Sturgill and Nebo fi res in
the Eagle Cap Wilderness, by
contrast, are “managed” fi res.
That means offi cials are using
a variety of tactics, monitoring
the fi res in some areas but taking
actions, such as having helicop-
ters drop water and dispatching
fi refi ghters on the ground, to try
to limit the fi res’ spread in cer-
AR-15
Continued from Page A1
The AR-15 has been
called “America’s Rifl e” by
the National Rifl e Associa-
tion. It’s been dubbed “Baby
Killer” by gun-control advo-
cates for its use in mass mur-
ders of elementary school
children in Connecticut and
Texas.
The total number of
“AR-15 style” rifl es in the
United States is diffi cult to
tabulate.
An estimate of 20 mil-
lion is on the website of the
National Shooting Sports
Foundation, a fi rearms and
ammunition industry trade
group. It refers to the AR-15
variants as a “modern sports
shooting rifl e.”
“They’re popular for
home defense, recreational
target shooting and hunting,”
the foundation website says.
Colt fi rearms bought the
patents for the AR-15 in
1959 from ArmaLite — the
“AR” stands for “ArmaLite
Rifl e.” The design was the
inspiration of the M-16 rifl e,
the standard American mil-
itary rifl e since the Vietnam
War.
The patent for the AR-15
ran out in 1977, allowing
The Associated Press, File
Three variants of the AR-15 semiautomatic rifl e are shown by the
California Department of Justice at a 2012 news conference.
companies to build generic
knockoff s. But Colt retained
the AR-15 trademark, so
each of the more than two
dozen gunmakers who have
built copycat variants has
had to come up with its
own name. Police call the
alphabet soup of brands,
names and numbers “AR-15
style.”
The gun has proven so
popular that no one can buy
a new one. With the market
fl ooded with competition,
Colt announced in 2020 that
it would no longer make the
AR-15. But it held onto the
name.
The AR-15 is not a
CELEBRATE
Continued from Page A1
Celebrate La Grande is supported through
sponsors, donations and discounts from
businesses and organizations.
Lastly, the celebration needed to include
entertainment for children. Hot dogs, ice
cream and activities for kids have been sta-
ples of the block party since the beginning.
La Grande Parks and Recreation now orga-
nizes all the kid-friendly fun.
Along with a planning committee, Lars-
en-Hill and Franks organized Celebrate
La Grande for years. Franks stepped back
WALK
Continued from Page A1
The handcarts, loaded
with 5-gallon water jugs and
personal items in 5-gallon
buckets, were pulled by up to
four people and pushed from
behind by up to four people.
Moving a handcart fi lled
with supplies is not easy.
“You don’t realize how
hard it is until you are actu-
ally doing it,” Carpenter said.
The La Grande stu-
dent believes the people
pushing in the back have
it the hardest because they
must generate much of the
momentum.
“The people in front have
people pushing them,” she
said.
Carpenter said the trek
was exhausting under the
hot sun, but she noted the
pioneers had to travel con-
siderably farther and often
under much harsher condi-
“machine gun.”
While the M-16 is capable
of fi ring automatically —
discharging all bullets with
a single pull of the trigger —
the AR-15 is semi-automatic.
One bullet is fi red with each
pull of the trigger, but it also
feeds the next round into the
chamber. The system allows
for a higher rate of fi re than
earlier bolt- or lever-action
rifl es.
Congress eff ectively
banned new sales of the
AR-15 in 1994, but allowed
the ban to lapse in 2004.
Having emerged from the
prohibition, the AR-15
became a symbol for many
from leadership within the committee
around seven years ago, according to Lars-
en-Hill. A few years later, she started
looking for someone to organize the event.
“There are really good, young folks
taking over,” Larsen-Hill said.
Dana Wright and Jeff Crews are the
new leaders within the planning committee
— but neither is a new face to Celebrate
La Grande. Both Wright and Crews were
involved in the committee under Larsen-Hill.
New location, same celebration
The block party has a new location this
year — Riverside Park. The decision to
move from downtown La Grande to the
tions. The rugged circum-
stances, Carpenter said, did
not rattle many of the pio-
neers, according to historic
accounts.
“I don’t see how they
could endure so much and
still be so resilient and
happy,” she said.
The group had to cross
the Sweetwater River in
Wyoming as part of the trek.
Alyson Glabe, a student at
La Grande Middle School,
said the stream crossing
was delightful because the
cool water was low and the
weather was hot.
“It was invigorating,” she
said.
Carpenter noted that the
crossing of the Sweetwater
River was much more dif-
fi cult for many pioneers
who had to cross at diff erent
times of the year when the
river was higher and had
blocks of ice.
Greg Baxter, one of the
accompanying adults from
the La Grande Stake of the
Church of Jesus Christ of
La GRANDE AUTO REPAIR
975-2000
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2022
tain directions.
The Sturgill Fire has burned
12,703 acres and is zero percent
contained, according to the Sept.
5 update. There are 31 personnel
assigned to fi ght the fi re, which
is burning 15 miles southwest of
Enterprise.
Firefi ghters worked Sept. 4
on structure protection for res-
idences in the area. The Wild-
land Fire Modules will continue
to implement structure protection
for private inholdings along the
Minam River on Sept. 5. Smoke-
jumpers will assist with structure
protection eff orts.
The Nebo Fire, which is
burning 21 miles southeast of
Enterprise near Mount Nebo, has
burned 7,277 acres and is zero
percent contained. There are 50
personnel assigned to fi ght the
fi re.
Firefi ghters spent Sept. 4
building a control line along the
Wallowa Mountain Loop Road
(Forest Service Road 39) to the
200 Road. On Sept. 5, addi-
tional resources will be assigned
to assist with fi reline construc-
tion and initiate fi ring operations
gun rights groups. It’s often
seen during “open carry”
gun rights rallies in Salem
and elsewhere around the
nation. It’s been the prize in
Republican rifl e raffl es —
known as “rif-rafs” — in
Portland and elsewhere.
Despite its popularity
and high political pro-
fi le, the AR-15 is a niche
market in the American gun
collection.
The United States has a
population of 333 million
people, who collectively
own 400 million guns. The
AR-15 accounts for less than
5% of the total. Most guns
that Americans own are pis-
tols. Pistols are also used
much more frequently than
rifl es or shotguns in crimes.
But the AR-15 rifl e has
played an outsized role in
the highest profi le mass
shootings, starting in 2007
when a gunman killed
six people and himself in
an apartment building in
Crandon, Wisconsin. In May
2022, a gunman using an
AR-15 “style” rifl e killed 19
children and two adults at
Robb Elementary School in
Uvalde, Texas.
In the 15 years in
between the two mass shoot-
ings, the places and death
toll changed, but a version
along the Wallowa Mountain
Loop (Forest Service Road 39)
and 200 roads.
Crews and heavy equipment
will be used to keep the fi re west
of the road. Firefi ghters will also
implement structure protection
for Forest Service infrastructure,
including the Lick Creek Camp-
ground, as the fi re continues to
move to the north and east.
Both the Sturgill and Nebo
fi res have surpassed the 2019
Granite Gulch Fire as the big-
gest in the Eagle Cap Wilder-
ness since the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest instituted a
policy allowing lightning fi res
to burn naturally. The Granite
Gulch Fire burned about 5,500
acres in August and September
2019.
There are two other fi res
burning in the Eagle Caps, also
sparked by lightning Aug. 22 or
23. The Goat Mountain Fire 1 is
not active, according to fi re man-
agers. The Goat Mountain 2 Fire
is about 95 acres, but, unlike the
Sturgill and Nebo fi res, it did
not grow substantially over the
weekend.
of the AR-15 was there. The
roll call of mass murders
includes:
• 2012: Sandy Hook
Elementary School, Con-
necticut: 27 killed
• 2015: San Bernardino,
California: 14 killed at a
Christmas party for health
care workers
• 2016: Orlando, Florida:
49 killed at The Pulse
nightclub
• 2016: Sutherland
Springs, Texas: 26 killed at
a church
• 2017: Las Vegas: 58
killed at an outdoor country
music concert, shot by a
gunman fi ring from a high-
rise hotel room
• 2018: Parkland, Florida:
17 killed at Marjory
Stoneman Douglas High
School
• 2022: Buff alo, N.Y.,
10 black people killed by a
white gunman at a grocery
store
The COVID-19 pandemic
has fueled demand for the
rifl e. Since 2020, an esti-
mated 2.8 million semi-au-
tomatic military-style rifl es
have been sold, part of a
pandemic-driven surge in
gun purchases, according to
Forbes magazine.
Mass shootings have
also surged over the same
park was made for logistic reasons, said
Crews. The park provides plenty of shade,
a lot of grassy areas for kids to run around
and already has a fun playground. The com-
mercial kitchen in the pavilion also means
an easier time for food safety and health
inspection.
There are a few worries about the location
for both the old and new leadership. Crews
said he’s worried about the parking situa-
tion at Riverside Park, but that Parks and
Rec Director Stu Spence has assured him the
park can handle around 800 to 1,000 people.
For Larsen-Hill, her apprehension has to
do with attendance. Riverside Park isn’t as
central of a location as downtown and she
Latter-day Saints, which
encompasses Union, Wal-
lowa, Baker and Grant
counties, said the trek was
a transformative experi-
ence for many of the partic-
ipants in terms of building
confi dence.
“I heard one boy say,
‘Now I know I can do hard
things and achieve good
things,’” Baxter said.
period. There have been
450 mass shootings in the
United States so far in 2022,
according to the Gun Vio-
lence Archive, a nonprofi t
that since 2014 has tracked
shootings and gun deaths.
The incidents are on track
to break the record of 692
mass shootings recorded
last year. A pistol is most
often used, but the use of
fi rearms of all types are on
the rise.
The Gun Violence
Archive defi nes a mass
shooting as one where four
or more people are shot or
killed, not including the
shooter. Other organiza-
tions defi ne a mass shooting
as four people killed, not
including the gunman.
Oregon voters will be
asked in November to vote
on Measure 114, a gun-con-
trol initiative that backers
say would require a gun
safety course before the sale
of a fi rearm, and ban ammu-
nition magazines that hold
more than 10 rounds.
Police say that the Bend
shooter had four 30-round
magazines with him when
he died. A preliminary
investigation shows that
the “AR-15 style” rifl e and
other fi rearms were legally
purchased.
worries that not as many people will make
it out.
There will not be fi re truck rides this
year given the tight nature of the roads and
parking lot at Riverside Park, something
Crews wants to bring back in the future.
A lot of things about Celebrate La Grande
will remain the same. According to Crews,
the committee is ensuring that certain
“Di-isms” remain a staple to the block party,
such as her famous sauerkraut. He recom-
mends everyone give it a try, even those who
are not normally a fan of pickled cabbage.
Whether you enjoy kraut or not, Crews
said, “It’s just great to get people back
together.”
The trek, which has
been conducted every fi ve
years by the La Grande
Stake since 2007, also had
a familial feel because
each handcart represented
a family unit in a fi ctional
sense with adults playing
parental roles. Baxter said
many times the members of
the handcart parties do not
know each other at fi rst but
become good friends as the
journey progressed.
Baxter said many of the
youths had relatives who
made the journey into the
Salt Lake Valley by wagon
or handcart in the 1800s.
Their ancestors were often
on their minds.
“In a spiritual sense they
felt they were walking with
their • forefathers,” he said.
•
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Stewart
•
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Island City, OR
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