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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2004)
Page 5 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, August 18, 2004 Lovejoy gains $15k grant Monday, Aug. 9 *10:11 a.m., motor ve- hicle accident (MVA), 1200 block Illinois River Road. *1:59 p.m., medical aid, 3600 block Rockydale Road. *5:48 p.m., vehicle fire, Redwood Hwy. milepost 21. *7:54 p.m., medical aid, 100 block Norman Road. Tuesday, Aug. 10 *12:14 a.m., medical aid, 300 block Caves Hwy. *3:11 p.m., districtwide medical standby for Ameri- can Medical Response. *3:36 p.m., brush fire, 4600 block Takilma Road. *4:50 p.m., vehicle fire, 33000 block Redwood Hwy. *7:15 p.m., medical aid, 24500 block Redwood Hwy. Wednesday, Aug. 11 *8:55 a.m., grass fire, Schumacher Street/Sawyer Avenue. *11:47 a.m., district- wide medical standby. *12:39 p.m., medical aid, 14500 block Redwood Hwy. *12:40 p.m., district- wide medical standby. Thursday, Aug. 12 *5:56 a.m., power line down, 900 block Caves Hwy. *11:53 a.m., medical aid, 200 block W. River Street. *11:57 a.m., MVA, 23100 block Redwood Hwy. *8:26 p.m., smoke in- vestigation, Redwood Hwy./ Westside Road. *12:03 a.m., medical aid, 500 block Schumacher Street. Friday, Aug. 13 *12:09 p.m., MVA, 100 block N. Redwood Hwy. *12:03 p.m., district- wide medical standby. *12:15 p.m., district- wide medical standby. *9:19 p.m., open burn, 2700 block Lakeshore Drive. Sunday, Aug. 15 *12:45 a.m., medical aid, 100 block Finch Road. *10:16 a.m., structure fire, 27200 block Redwood Hwy. *8:50 p.m., MVA, 30300 block Redwood Hwy. Get the ‘Illinois Valley News’ in your mailbox every week. Sign up for a subscription NOW! 592-2541 DOWNTOWN CJ ACCIDENT - An unidentified motorcyclist in her early 20s, appar- ently from British Columbia, collided with a vehicle driven by Illinois Valley resident Angel Hawk on Friday, Aug. 13 at approximately 12:30 p.m. at Redwood Hwy. and Lister Street near Century 21 Harris & Taylor. The cyclist was taken by American Medical Response to Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass. It appeared that the northbound cyclist struck Hawk’s southbound vehicle on its passenger side. Besides AMR, Illinois Valley Fire District and Josephine County Sheriff’s Office responded to the crash. (Photo by Shane Welsh) Chief provides overview of Aug. 4 fire By SHANE WELSH Staff Writer “In just the last few days (since the Aug. 4, 2004 fire), we have had numerous applicants walk in asking to sign up.” So said Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) Chief Harry Rich during a meet- ing of the Illinois Valley Fire District Board of Di- rectors Wednesday night, Aug. 11 in Cave Junction City Hall. The 210-acre fire that began near Rough & Ready Park threatened more than 200 homes, be- sides Downtown Cave Junction. It sparked fear in many Illinois Valley resi- dents; some of whom ap- plied to volunteer for fu- ture firefighting. With the help of Jeff Gavlik, deputy fire chief, Rich gave a slide-show presentation to the board which outlined areas burned by the fire, and demonstrated the need for defensible space. “The fire moved to vegetation and timber very quickly,” said Rich. He pointed to a series of pho- tos of a burning tree taken by Dale Sandberg, IVFD photographer. “The entire tree burned Get that unbeatable combination now with Auto, Fire, Life or Commercial insurance from Farmers Fast, Fair, Friendly Service NOW WITH TWO LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU! 128 S. Redwood Hwy. Cave Junction, OR (541) 592-4541 (next to Treehouse Florist & Gifts) 134 N.W. ‘E’ St. Grants Pass, OR (800) 888-6704 in less than a minute,” said the chief. “This was a tall tree. If you look at the time, it was 3:12 p.m. (when the tree started burning). At 3:13 p.m., it’s gone,” Rich said. He also showed the board pictures of dense forest lining both sides of the road leading into a resi- dence that burned in the 27000 block of Redwood Hwy. Some FEMA funding feasible due to large number of homes that were threatened by the ‘Rough & Ready’ wildfire. - Chief Harry Rich “Near ‘Forks’ park, we lost a mobile,” said Rich. “The fire was just ripping through the canopy all the way down the road. An ODF (Oregon Dept. of Forestry) crew went into the area where the home was and immediately went out (because the fire was too close for firefighter safety),” said Rich. “It was a total death trap,” he said. “You could see the devastation all the way around. It burned all the way to the ground into the roots,” said Rich. The fire was so hot that “even if (IVFD) had been there, we wouldn’t have been able to save the home,” he said. Near Schumacher Street, there was a truck that burned as well. Ac- cording to Joe Feldhaus, division chief, “The fire actually burned past the truck, but it spotted back to the trash piled in the back of the truck.” Rich went on to show the board pictures of un- burned green lawns and other structures that were threatened, but didn’t burn due to residents having cleared fuel on the prop- erty prior to the fire. “Our fire folks (fire plan coordinators) were just out there (on Schumacher Street) two weeks ago,” said Rich. He referenced a picture of a residence that was saved due to having defensible space. “These folks were at our town meeting in Cave Junction and actually went home and cut all the (3- feet-tall) grass on their property,” he said. Rich pointed out that with multiple agencies re- sponding, there were some problems with communi- cation during the fire due to many different radio frequencies being used. “If you listened to the communication (during the fire), the radios were nuts,” said Rich. “We’re working on fixing this and getting designated frequencies to put people on so that we aren’t overriding everyone else.” Despite the minor communication problems, Rich praised efforts of all agencies involved and was pleased with the perform- ance of IVFD crews. Since more than 200 homes were threatened, Rich said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may re- cover 75 percent of the district’s cost for time, per- sonnel and equipment used to fight the fire. He will submit estimates to FEMA to substantiate possible financial reimbursement. The areas burned dur- ing the fire are still under investigation by ODF. Crews from Grayback For- estry are still “mopping up” the area; ensuring hot embers and debris won’t reignite. Additional photos of the fire are available on Sandburg’s website at www.edmfknives.com/ivfd/. Lovejoy Hospice is the recipient of a $15,000 grant for outreach pro- grams from The Oregon Community Foundation. The grant will help Lovejoy complete devel- opment of community out- reach programs for pa- tients, families, and other community members. Lovejoy Hospice pro- grams provide holistic end- of-life care for people and their families in Josephine County, and parts of Jack- son and Douglas counties. Lovejoy provides profes- sional staff 24 hours a day “to help keep dignity and personal choices while relieving physical and emotional pain.” Lovejoy Hospice also provides support services to families as they care for loved ones, bereavement services for children and adults, and presents com- munity education pro- grams for health care pro- fessionals and the public. “The Oregon Commu- nity Foundation’s grant gives us the opportunity to expand classes and work- shops for caregivers and for end-of-life patient care and family bereavement topics,” said Christina Snell, executive director. “The grant will en- hance the availability for needed hospice education and outreach services in our community,” she said. The Dome School has limited openings in toddlers & 3 - 6 age group Small class sizes Phone 592-3911 for more information
