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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2004)
Electric power to Cave Junction was interrupted when a pole was sheared off. HOLLAND HOME DESTROYED - A fire of unknown origin destroyed a tri-level hill- side home among trees above Holland Store Friday, April 9, said Chief Harry Rich of Illinois Valley Fire District. The alarm came at 10:22 p.m., and a glow in the sky was visible from a long distance. Home-owner Jim Ewing told the district that he went downstairs after hearing a popping noise, and then left the area upon encountering smoke and flame. Because of a 45-degree sloping narrow drive to the home, said to be in a remodeling stage, only two brush rigs could reach the site. Firefighters put a wet line around the blaze to protect wildland, but the home burned to the ground. Rich said that home owners in the area will be contacted about their driveways, as neither fire trucks nor water tenders can navigate ‘nearly impassable’ roads or drive- ways. It would have taken a 1,000-foot hose lay to reach the site. Firefighters from the Holland, Cave Junction and Selma stations responded with numerous rigs; many of them standing by with American Medical Response at Holland Store. Deer Creek landscape plan studied By SHANE WELSH Staff Writer Fire suppression, land management and forest health in Selma were among subjects discussed during a public meeting. The evening gathering was held by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Selma Community and Education Center on Wednesday, April 7. BLM officials from the Grants Pass Resource Area presented displays and answered questions from area residents relating to a planned landscape management project. It’s located within the south half of the Deer Creek wa- tershed. The site, called the South Deer Landscape Management Project, is located southeast of Selma in the McMullen Creek/ Thompson Creek road ar- eas. The project encom- passes 7,441 acres of BLM land and will involve BLM and residential lands within the site. Community com- ment was sought, as the project could begin in two years. Of the site acreage, 2,626 acres are within ri- parian reserves - areas con- taining intermittent or sea- sonal streams; 409 acres are located in Owl Core reserves - spotted owl habitat areas; 18 acres at Lake Selmac; and 98 acres in a Bald Eagle reserve near Lake Selmac. Regula- tions for land use and maintenance within the protected reserves will dif- fer from the 4,290 acres located outside reserves or water resource areas. Abbie Jossie, field manager for BLM, said the questions and input from residents will be helpful when finalizing and imple- menting plans to begin the project within the next two years. “This was a pretty good turn out; lots of peo- ple with a wide variety of opinions,” said Jossie. “Most residents I spoke with seem to be concerned with access to roads and creek water sources on or behind their property,” she said. Project coordinators will be looking at issues (Continued on page 5) Biscuit recovery consensus complex By MICHELLE BINKER Staff Writer Some 90 people at- tended a forum held to pro- mote community dialogue and a sense of involvement in the Biscuit Fire recovery project. The Biscuit Fire con- sumed 500,000 acres of timberland in mid-2002, and nearly caused evacua- tion of Illinois Valley’s 15,000 residents. The Illinois Valley Community Forum, sup- ported by Illinois Valley Community Response Team (IVCRT), hosted the event Thursday night, April 8 in the Josephine County Bldg. in Cave Junction. Before the assembled crowd broke into small groups to share feelings, hopes and concerns, a panel of six speakers rep- resenting various perspec- tives on the recovery pro- ject gave brief presenta- tions. The speakers repre- sented the U.S. Forest Ser- vice, the timber industry, regional tourism and the Siskiyou Regional Educa- tion Project, as well as a forest ecologist, and a community anthropologist. As the panelists spoke, each to his own area of expertise or concern, the nature of the difficulties in reaching communitywide consensus became evident. For instance, while Roger Brandt spoke en- couragingly of promoting tourist resources in order to grow economically; Don Smith, executive director of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project (SREP) warned that dependence upon tourism and growth for economic vitality could be the biggest problem the valley soon will face. Similarly, while forest ecologist David Odeon (Continued on page 5) Driver falls asleep; shears off pole Electric power to much of Cave Junction was interrupted on Easter Sunday, April 11 when a car crashed into a utility pole in front of Fire Station 1, shearing it off, dropping power and telephone lines. Cave Junction resident Donna Luella Nelson, 62, fell asleep while driving a four-door hybrid Honda westbound on Caves Hwy., said Chief Harry Rich of Illinois Valley Fire Dis- trict. It was not immedi- ately determined how fast the car was moving, but one firefighter estimated a high speed. The car veered onto the lane for eastbound traf- fic, took out the district’s mail box and a utility pole; then continued westbound, coming to rest in a ditch approximately 50 yards from the point of impact. The crash, reported at 7:56 a.m., drew many spectators from the neighborhood. Firefighters assisted American Medical Response in getting Nelson from the car. She was taken to Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass, said Jose- phine County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO). She was released the same day. There was no electric- ity for 1,460 customers, said Pacific Power, whose crews had power restored by about 10 a.m. Tele- phone service to the af- fected area, which in- cluded Downtown CJ and its traffic signals, was re- stored later. Besides traffic signals being “out,” a number of burglar alarms sounded at some businesses. Firefight- ers and a JCSO volunteer worked to direct traffic. Because the pole and lines were down in front of Station 1, all emergency rigs there except a small rescue truck, were blocked. Rich said that Station 1 would not have been able to respond to a structure fire had an alarm come in. The chief also noted that Nelson’s car withstood the impact well. “It’s a testimonial to that hybrid,” he said. Firefighters initially blocked Caves Hwy. traf- fic at Redwood Hwy. and at Laurel Road. Later, Caves Hwy. was blocked between Old Stage Road and Laurel, with traffic rerouted on Old Stage to E. River Street. Rich said that fire- fighters were at the crash scene for several hours. And once the scene was cleared, he said, it was discovered that the power interruption had affected computers and other elec- trically powered equip- ment in the main station. It serves as headquarters for the fire district. On Monday, April 12 the chief and staff were evaluating the situation. Some equipment might have to be replaced, Rich indicated. Fire station sale, rig purchase decided By SHANE WELSH Staff Writer A conditional sale of the current Selma Fire Sta- tion and purchase of two used brush fire rigs were approved by Illinois Valley Fire District director dur- ing their meeting Thursday night, April 8 in Cave Junction City Hall. Directors OK’d, with a stipulation, the sale of the Selma site to Volunteer Firefighter Steve Zabriske. His offer of $45,000 met 5-0 approval of the board, under the stipula- tion that the district seek counsel to determine if any legal issues need to be ad- dressed before privately selling the property. “This money will be put back into our building fund to purchase equip- ment” or other related items, said Chief Harry Rich. Preliminary research conducted by district offi- cials estimated the value of the property at $50,000. If approved by legal counsel, occupation of the property by the new owner would occur after con- struction of the new Sta- tion 2 in Selma. Purchase of two brush trucks at a total cost of $32,000 also met unani- mous approval. “Brush trucks are our first line of defense for rescue and prevention,” said Rich. “We need more type 6 engines to ensure rapid response.” According to Rich, he made an offer of $32,000 to Oregon Dept. of For- estry, owners of the vehi- cles. The price is for both trucks, existing equipment and emergency lights. “They are both white, diesel, and have 200- gallon tanks on them,” said the chief. “The only items they will need are radios and our logo.” Currently, the district has $59,000 in its budget for purchase of emergency equipment. I.V. Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt & season-opener 2nd Friday Art Walk photos on page 8