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.