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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2003)
Fire risks raise level of danger From ashes, stumps: rebirth of burned site By PENNY NIEMI Special to ‘I.V. News’ Last week, a year after the Biscuit Fire began, 11 young people from Illinois Valley with several adults entered the Kalmiopsis Wilderness to document the rebirth of the forest. Their tools were cam- eras, and their guide was Romain Cooper of the Because of high fire danger and “a rash of ex- pensive and destructive human-caused wildfires,” strict fire rules are in ef- fect, said Oregon Dept. of Forestry (ODF). Fire season went into effect on July 1. Under the fire rules, use of fireworks on county, state and pri- vate land protected by ODF has been prohibited since June 23, except in cleared areas free of all flammable vegetation. Also under the public- regulated use closure: *Debris burning is prohibited. *Chainsaw use is pro- hibited between 1 and 8 p.m. *Non-agricultural mowing of dry or cured grass is prohibited between 1 and 8 p.m. *Smoking in areas of flammable vegetation is prohibited. *Campfires are prohib- ited except in improved campgrounds such as state and county parks. *Use of vehicles on unimproved roads is pro- hibited. *Cutting, grindings and welding metal is pro- hibited in areas of flamma- ble vegetation. *Non-industrial use of power-driven machinery is prohibited from 1-8 p.m. VANDALS CAUSE IVHS FUROR - Illinois Valley firefighters responded at 11:55 p.m. on Saturday, July 12 when fire alarms sounded at Illinois Valley High School. Engines and personnel from Cave Junction, Selma and O’Brien responde d, searching for some time for the cause of what ap- peared to be smoke. An electrical fire was sus- pected. Subsequently, an open door was found, as well as a discharged fire extinguisher. The latter was determined to be the cause of the alarm, as it activated automatic de- tection devices. Sus- pects are sought. I.V. firefighters and Oregon Dept. of Forestry also extinguished a 1/10-acre wildfire on Indian Creek Road at 1:20 p.m. on Sat- urday, believed caused by a careless smoker. At the same time, I.V. fire- fighters were faced with an extrication at the bot- tom of Hay’s Hill, and medical emergencies on Waldo Road and Oregon Caves National Monu- ment. All were handled. Suit ending wrecks cause loss of five lives in city loss Four sign, died en route to a which also was Two motorists died of To cut its losses in a lawsuit against the com- pany that built the waste- water treatment plant, the city of Cave Junction wants to end legal action and is paying the company approximately $237,000. Mayor Ed Faircloth said that he is extremely unhappy with the attorney who represented the city, Robert A. Graham Jr. of Grants Pass. “I was under the impression that he had his act together,” said the mayor, indicating that the city has lost in court sev- eral times despite assur- ances from Graham that the outlook was good. The council agreed to dispense with further liti- gation during its meeting in city hall on Monday night, July 14. The 5-0 action followed a five- minute executive (closed to the public) session. Because of the amount of money involved, the city likely will need to make adjustments in its budget and possibly some of its operations. City Re- corder Jim Polk said that the Oregon Secretary of State accepted last year’s budget with a minus amount in the wastewater treatment plant fund. But the city is required to submit a resolution to explain how it is going to (Continued on page 3) injuries following a head- on collision on Hwy. 199 near Rogue Community College in Grants Pass on Saturday, July 12, said Oregon State Police. The crash occurred at approximately 10:25 p.m. after OSP had received a call about a wrong-way driver. The victims, both from Grants Pass, were identi- fied as Dorothy Walters, 71, who was pronounced dead at the scene; and Kristen Johnston, 42, who died in Three Rivers Com- munity Hospital after the wreck. Both were wearing safety restraints, said OSP. A third car, a Grants Pass taxi, also was in- volved, but neither the driver, Ray Miller, nor his passengers, Elizabeth Mat- thew and Erik Moog, were reported injured, OSP said. OSP said that Walters was northbound on 199 and for an unknown reason crossed the centerline and struck Johnston’s southbound vehicle. Her vehicle then hit the taxi, southbound. Three other fatal motor vehicle accidents, in the Klamath Falls/Chiloquin and California border areas on July 12, also were re- ported by OSP. At 4 a.m. a vehicle driven by Mandy Taylor of Chiloquin went off Hwy. 97 near milepost 268, struck several large boul- ders and rolled several times, said OSP. After the crash, Taylor climbed an embankment, and a car with four teen- agers stopped to help. The driver, a 17-year-old girl, was truck by a semitruck and trailer, and died at the scene. The victim was not identified. At 2:38 p.m., a semitruck and trailer, and a minivan collided near the junction of U.S. 97 and Hwy. 138 with the truck tipping onto its right side and sliding into the Dia- mond Lake Junction Café. No one in the café was reported injured, but Jian Pang, 38, a passenger in the van that pulled in front of the truck from a stop hospital. She was ejected from the van. The driver, Libang Yang, 38, from Portland, was in critical condition. A girl, about 14, and an eld- erly woman also were in critical condition. A tod- dler was listed in good condition. The truck driver, Tho- mas Mead, 60, from Tuc- son, Ariz., suffered minor injuries. In a third fatal crash, on Interstate 5, 12 miles into Oregon from Califor- nia, a minivan driven by Porschea Bowdre from Longview, Wash. went out of control and rolled sev- eral times due to a blown tire at 4:55 p.m., said OSP. A passenger, Gloria Collins, 38, from San Ber- nardino, Calif., was pinned under the van and pro- nounced dead at the scene. Ten children passen- gers were taken to Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford. All were re- leased, said OSP, with mi- nor scrapes except for one child, who underwent sur- gery for facial lacerations. Free meals noted by Three Rivers School Dist. Vacationing children living in the Cave Junction area may go to Evergreen Elementary School, Rough and Ready Park or Cave Junction Pool for free breakfast and lunch. Three Rivers School District is offering the meals to those 18 and younger through the Sum- mer Food Program: *Evergreen Elemen- tary, 520 W. River St., through Aug. 22, Mondays through Fridays, 8 to 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to noon. Cooper pointed out the fire-proof pine tree and invited the young people to sniff the bark. “It smells like crème soda,” was one comment. Another mem- ber reported that he “learned a lot about the serpentine that she didn’t know before.” All could see the specialness of the valley. Students made notes of observations Siskiyou Project. The idea is the brainchild of mem- bers of Illinois River Val- ley Arts Council with the focus, “Learning Through the Arts.” Organizers included Kathy Ratiu-Kelley and Penny Niemi. The council said that Shop Smart Food Warehouse provided the cameras and processing for the project. After photos are developed, the young people will choose one to be enlarged and matted. The enlargements and a statement by each pho- tographer will be displayed at Taylor’s Sausage Coun- try Store in Cave Junction during the Second Friday Art Walk on Aug. 8, and throughout the month. The group’s first stop on Illinois River Road was an overlook of the fault line that ends the serpen- tine eco-area. Cooper dis- cussed some unique quali- ties of the serpentine envi- ronment, one of Illinois Valley’s unusual aspects. Trees and bushes espe- cially equipped to survive fire were pointed out, as well as the Mariposa lily that grows only in Illinois Valley. The group discov- ered the unique lily, and photographed it. After several other stops looking at portions of the massive wildfire re- mains from a distance, the group lunched at Six Mile Creek, and cooled their feet in Illinois River. It was a treat in the 90- degree weather. And some managed to cool more than their feet. The last stop was above McCaleb Ranch, where the youthful photog- raphers were able to walk in the fire-blackened for- est. Someone marveled at how the madrone rejuve- nated from the roots, and it was noted that poison oak also was quick to recover from the fire, while other bushes died, but were growing again by the ber- ries they had dropped. Group members also picked up trash left by oth- ers, and even pulled some knapweed. At the end of the day, all said that they had a great time and looked for- ward to the next meeting, when they will pick up the photos to be enlarged, and write a short essay. One young photogra- pher commented that he learned a lot about the positive and negative as- pects for forest fires. Man kills self after stop After being stopped on suspicion of a traffic in- fraction, a motorist from California shot himself to death near Grants Pass, reported Oregon State Po- lice. OSP troopers stopped a pickup truck -- driven by David Chris Jensen, 64, from Chico, Calif. -- on Tuesday, July 8 on Inter- state 5 at the north end of Grants Pass. OSP said that it had received a call from an- other motorist reporting that the pickup truck was “all over the road.” A trooper determined that Jensen was not intoxicated, but that his driving privi- leges were suspended in Oregon. As a trooper was pre- paring a citation, Jensen went to his vehicle and a single gunshot was heard, said OSP. He was pro- nounced dead at the scene, and a .357-caliber handgun was found on his lap. One lane of I-5 was closed for approximately two hours while troopers conducted an investigation.