LOCAL: This year’s Baker County Fair
results. PAGE 7
BUSINESS: Scoop -n- Steamer gets new
ownership in Sumpter . PAGE 3
The
Baker County Press
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Friday, August 21, 2015 • Volume 2, Issue 34
Ag producers gather
to discuss fire losses
• AGENCIES
OFFER UP
ASSISTANCE
PROGRAMS
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
“We’re looking at a
potential of 20 permittees
whose allotments were
affected,” said Bureau of
Land Management (BLM)
Field Offi cer Lori Wood on
Monday.
Following the nightly 7
p.m. Incident Management
Team night shift debrief-
ing meeting in the Baker
High School Commons,
landowners, farmers and
ranchers made their way
through the City’s fog seal
project, which had most
of the streets blocked off
around the school, then
through the surrounding
fi re camp, to the same
meeting location.
As fi re crews dispersed,
roughly 30 landowners, lo-
cal ag producers and rela-
tives of those who had lost
timber or livestock, moved
forward in the room to take
the vacated seats.
Wallowa-Whitman For-
est Supervisor Tom Mon-
toya said his heart went out
to those whose livelihoods
had been affected by the
fi re.
Trent Luschen from
the USDA Farm Services
Agency (FSA) and Greg
Kuehl from the Natural
Resource Conservation
Service (NRCS) were on
hand with information
regarding land treatment,
rehabilitation, livestock,
livestock forage, and crop
disaster assistance.
Luschen spoke briefl y,
saying a Livestock For-
age Program is in place
through the FSA. Those
who have lost cattle to the
fi res can apply through his
offi ce on Midway Drive.
Submitted Photo.
A fence line up Beaver Creek showing a clear
difference in grazed vs. un-grazed lands after the
fi re passed.
SEE AG LOSS PAGE 3
Stories told
of bravery,
loss and hope
amidst
heartache
BAKER COUNTY WILDFIRE COVERAGE
• ACCOUNTS OF WILDFIRE SURVIVAL
BEGIN TO SURFACE
BY BRIAN ADDISON
Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Suzan Ellis Jones / The Baker County Press
The Windy Ridge-Cornet Fire swept through Bridgeport Valley, burning this pole and several others in half,
knocking out power in the community.
As fi re crews begin to maintain perimeters around the
Cornet/Windy Ridge Fire, early stories of bravery, loss,
and heartache begin to surface. With the nation’s wildfi re
fi ghting forces spread thin by an extreme fi re season,
local people and resources have stepped up to help save
structures and to lend a hand where needed.
Local rancher Kody Justus watched as Larry and
Tammy Davilla’s home near the end of Beaver Creek
Road was nearly lost to the fl ames of the Cornet Fire. Fire
crews had left the area after determining the safety risk
too high to remain.
That is when Baker County Road Department Assis-
tant Road Master Nolan Perkins (aka Noodle) stepped in,
bull-dozing a protective fi re line and saving the residence.
Wildfires scorch 120,000
acres in Baker County Stices Gulch
SEE BRAVERY AND HEARTACHE PAGE 4
residents
return home
• CANYON FIRE NEAR JOHN DAY GROWS
TO NATION’S NUMBER ONE PRIORITY
BY BRIAN ADDISON
Brian@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Forest fi res continue to burn in Baker County as the
western United States experiences one of the most de-
structive fi re seasons in nearly a decade.
All tolled, about 300-square miles are on fi re in Oregon
and Washington. With the nation’s fi refi ghting resources
stretched to maximum capacity, the US Secretary of
Defense has authorized the use of military personnel and
calls for reinforcement have been sent out internationally
to help battle the blazes.
US offi cials have placed calls to Canada for additional
personnel and on Wednesday, August 19, 200 members
of the US armed forces began fi re training and will be
pressed into action shortly thereafter to help quell the fi res
throughout the west.
SEE WILDFIRES PAGE 9
Friday
Sunny and not as hot as the rest of the week.
Highs in the upper 80s. Mostly clear with signifi -
cant cool down at night. Lows in the upper 40s.
Saturday
Sunny and cooler still. Highs near 80. Mostly
clear during the night with lows in the upper 40s.
Sunday
Sunny and warming up again. Highs in the mid
80s. Mostly clear at night with lows in the mid
40s.
• GREATER BOWEN VALLEY FIRE CHIEF’S
FAMILY AMONG THOSE DISPLACED,
HOME SAVED
BY SUNNY WERNER
Sunny@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Suzan Ellis Jones/ The Baker County Press
Leland Siddoway’s bull takes a minute to warm up
his belly on the newly scorched ground.
Your weekend weather forecast for Baker County.
Our forecast made possible by this
generous sponsor:
Offi cial weather provider for
The Baker County Press.
The mood was remarkably cheerful as about 35 resi-
dents who had been evacuated from Stices Gulch, and
fi refi ghting volunteers, met at the Bowen Valley Rural
Fire Department’s fi rehouse for a briefi ng and update on
the Fire Management Plan by Fire Chief Jim Devlin on
Monday evening.
SEE STICES GULCH PAGE 8
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
4Her at nat’l. shooting competition
Community Bank pays for grades
Career Profi le Series: City Manager
Sumpter mobile home fi re
Ecoli in Unity’s water supply
NRAC has heated meeting
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