LOCAL: Sumpter welcomes new Mayor.
PAGE 5
LOCAL: County declares state of emergency
due to severe weather. PAGE 8
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Friday, January 20, 2017 • Volume 4, Issue 3
Haines man dies in fire
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Long-time Haines
resident Thomas L. Chris-
tensen, 83, died in a fi re
at his home at 811 Robert
Street early Sunday morn-
ing. The exact cause of
the fi re is undetermined,
said several fi re offi cials,
including Haines Fire
Department Chief Jerry
Hampton and State Deputy
Fire Marshal Casey Kump.
According to a press
release issued by Baker
County Sheriff Ash on
Sunday, Baker County
Consolidated Dispatch
had received a report of a
house fi re at the aforemen-
tioned address, at around
1:20 a.m. that morning,
and the Haines Fire De-
partment, the Baker Rural
Fire Protection District, the
Oregon State Police, and
the Baker County Sheriff’s
Offi ce responded, fi nding
the home fully engulfed.
The fi re crews kept the
fi re from spreading to
other structures in the area
(it was contained to the
property), according to the
press release, but the home
itself was completely de-
stroyed. Christensen was
later found in the home
(in his bedroom), around
3 p.m.
“That thing was fully
engulfed before we even
got out of the fi re station,”
Hampton said, noting how
quickly the house had
burned. “And, of course,
that put us basically into a
defensive mode, to where
everything was just pri-
marily from the outside of
the structure—you know,
cool things down, and put
it out, the best we could.”
Hampton said there was
either a malfunction with
the wood stove in the
home, or possibly an accel-
erant used to start the fi re
helped spread it—theories
based on witness accounts
about Christensen’s fi re
starting methods, and from
investigating the scene
itself.
Hampton said, “From
indications early on, there
were a couple of witnesses
who said they saw they
fi re, and one person in
particular, as she got close,
heard an explosion in the
house, and at that point,
the fi re was immediately
throughout the house (wit-
nesses described hearing
some explosions, which
could have helped spread
the fi re, but were not cited
as the cause).”
Todd Arriola / The Baker County Press
Fire took the life of a Haines man Sunday morning.
SEE HAINES FIRE PAGE 5
Snow, ice trigger rare
Pine-Eagle School closure
Man
arrested
with stolen
car claims to
operate 39
newspapers
BY KERRY McQUISTEN
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Sunny Werner/ The Baker County Press
The front of the Pine-Eagle High School was barely visible through the mounds of snow Wednesday.
BY SUNNY WERNER
Sunny@TheBakerCountyPress.com
For the fi rst time in recent memory, Halfway’s Pine
Eagle Schools closed Wednesday and planned for closure
Thursday due to snow. The notices went out to parents
Wednesday morning, informing them that the busses
would be loading up at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday for an early
release, and that there was no school planned for Thurs-
day.
Severe storms and unsafe bus travel conditions prompt-
ed the closure.
When asked, local Halfway residents agreed that they
couldn’t remember there ever having been a “snow day”
before now.
“I don’t know of anytime that we have ever had an
entire snow day. I went to school here—Kindergarten-
12th grades, moved away for a few years, and have been
working here for the last seven years. When I was in the
fi rst grade, I know that we got sent home at lunchtime.
That was because the power had been off all morning
and was getting cold! We’ve had delays twice since I’ve
worked here. I’ve only heard of closures due to broken
pipes, power outages, the city water issues, and the fi re
that came over the hill,” said Angie Chetwood, Pine
Eagle School Secretary.
“Nobody around here can ever remember a snow day,”
Sydney Saunders of Halfway said.
SEE PINE EAGLE SCHOOL PAGE 7
Friday
A chance for snow showers. Otherwise mostly
to partly cloudy. Light accumulations are pos-
sible. High near 30. Chance of precipitation is
40%. Lows in the mid-teens.
Saturday
A chance for snow showers. Otherwise mostly
cloudy. Light accumulations are possible. Highs
in the lower 20s. Lows in the mid-teens.
Sunday
A chance for snow showers. Otherwise mostly
cloudy. Light to moderate accumulations are
possible. Highs in the mid 20s. Chance of pre-
cipitation is 60%. Lows in the upper teens.
On January 16 at 3:43
a.m., Offi cer Rand Weaver
arrested Mitchell “Mick”
Andrew May on Campbell
Street on a recovery of a
stolen vehicle listed with an
out-of-the-area agency.
May was charged with
Possession of a Stolen
Photo courtesy of the
Baker County Sheriff’s Offi ce.
Vehicle and Unauthorized
Mitchell “Mick” May.
Use of a Motor Vehicle.
May, age 52, is a techni-
cally listed as a resident
at 23 N. 68th Street West Richland, Washington, but has
frequented Baker City since at least this past summer,
making his presence known on Facebook.
May claims to be the owner of The Baker City States-
man, “Baker City’s founded free and always will be posi-
tive news source! A Bullseye Communications Facebook
newspaper. See Bullseye Marketing for questions and or
help for your business or cause.”
SEE MAN ARRESTED PAGE 5
New local
postmaster talks
snow, mailboxes
BY GINA K. SWARTZ
Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Sunny Werner/ The Baker County Press
Pine-Eagle students make a run for it in the nasty
weather after being released early Wednesday.
Without question Baker City has experienced a wide
range of hardships with the unusual snowfall and record
low temperatures—be it road closures, budget concerns
with City street plowing or mail delivery.
Steve Legler, the new Baker City Postmaster, expressed
deep concern for the unique situation the community is
facing. Legler got the call, placing him in his new posi-
tion, this week.
“I know the Postal Service’s slogan is through snow,
sleet, rain it doesn’t matter—we deliver mail. There is a
fi ne line between doing that and also keeping our employ-
ees safe,” he said.
SEE MAIL AND SNOW PAGE 3
Your weekend weather forecast for Baker County.
Our forecast made possible by this
generous sponsor:
Offi cial weather provider for
The Baker County Press.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
BTI hires new instructor
Cattlemen respond to monument
Scholarship available
Classifi eds and Business Directory
Sumpter declares state of emergency
Hwy. 86 deer feeding warned against
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