Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Page A-3
New fire truck in service at station 2
By Dan Klapheke
IVN Staff Writer
The Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD)
has retired a 41-year-old engine and brought in
a new, custom truck thanks to a hefty federal
grant.
IVFD Fire Chief Dennis Hoke said the
engine is a big upgrade to the department’s
fleet, and to the department as a whole.
“It’s got a whole bunch of stuff,” Hoke
said. “It’s really kind of neat.”
One of the biggest innovations on
the new truck is a front discharge monitor,
which allows a remote-controlled hose to be
utilized from the truck’s cabin. For calls that
sometimes only two fire fighters are available
for, the drivers can now put out fires while
driving the truck.
“It’s a huge increase of our capability,”
Hoke said. “So now we can just literally drive
around the fire.”
Getting a new truck isn’t as simple as
walking into a dealership, Hoke said. The rigs
are custom made and can take a year to build;
IVFD’s new rig came from Deep South Fire
Trucks in Mississippi. But each engine has
to address the issues of the area it’s going to
service.
“You look at your risk; what is your
problem? And then you try to build it,” Hoke
said.
For IVFD, steep hills and inaccessible
driveways are common obstructions to fires.
In the design stage, the department deemed
necessary four wheel drive, a 1,000 gallon
water tank, a 1,500 gallon-per-minute pump
and room for extraction equipment.
But the truck never would have been built
if it weren’t for the $350,000 federal grant the
department received last year. Everyone hates
paying taxes, Hoke said, including himself, but
in this case the community gets to see what it
goes toward.
“When you see your statements you get
when you get paid for work, and you see that
they took out that federal taxes, at least you
can say, ‘Well, OK, there’s something I can
put my hands around. I helped pay for this
particular piece of equipment,’” Hoke said.
The department matched $17,000 of
the grant, which is ultimately what the truck
actually cost.
“There was a 5 percent match, so that
truck actually cost the district $17,000,” Hoke
said of the grant. “So we got a $350,000 piece
of equipment for $17,000 by the federal grant.”
The new rig will also help upgrade every
other station in the Valley, Hoke said. The
truck sends off the 41-year-old engine and
allows a newer truck to be sent to the Selma
station, and then a Selma truck was moved
to the O’Brien station. The old truck will be
for sale to help offset other IVFD costs, and
Hoke said collectors, loggers or other fire
departments typically buy used trucks.
The old rig was bought new by the
department in 1975, and Hoke estimated the
department will save several thousand dollars
a year from maintenance on it alone, which
included yearly work on the hydraulic brakes,
engine, electrical issues and having to pay for
a mechanic.
“When you have older rigs like that you
gotta increase maintenance cost,” Hoke said.
“And the whole reason we’ve been trying to
(Photo by Judy Hoyle, Illinois Valley News)
Members of the IVFD along with community members participate in the
ceremonial “push-in” Tuesday, July 26 in Selma.
upgrade the fleet with really good equipment
that we don’t have to put a bunch of money in
to maintain them--that allows us to take money
to use for other things, like protective gear and
other equipment we need.”
Previously, the newest truck in the
department’s fleet is a 2014 rescue truck, but
the last full engine before that was from 2000.
The IVFD lineup also includes a rig from
1999, and the Dryden and Takilma stations
have 1980s engines. According to Hoke, an
average truck lasts 20 years.
“It was a 1975 engine,” Hoke said of the
newly retired rig. “It definitely needed to go.”
A ceremony was held the evening of
Tuesday, July 26 to christen the new rig as
part of the IVFD fleet. Fifty to 60 people
were in attendance, Hoke said, and the chief
addressed the crowd as to the significance
and importance of the new truck. It was then
pushed into the garage by over 30 people as
symbolic to when horse-drawn fire wagons
would be pushed into stations after use.
IVFD has four fulltime staff and only
15 volunteer firefighters. The stations are
shorthanded, and Hoke said three stations
in Holland Loop, Takilma and Dryden have
no volunteers. But the department is always
looking, and doesn’t take the support it has for
granted.
“I appreciate the continued support of
the community,” Hoke said. “We need more
volunteers. That’s always the message that we
want to get out.”
The Archive Zone: by Hillary Mohr from the Illinois Valley News archives
This week we find ourselves
going back to Aug. 1, 1952. Summer
was sizzling, smokejumpers were
fighting fires and there was still much
to do in the Valley to prepare for the
up and coming Jubilee Festival. Strap
on your parachutes and get ready to
jump feet first into this weeks’ red-hot
Archive Zone.
17 men arrive to aid jumpers.
With all but five smokejumpers and
a squad leader having been jumped
into small lightning fires in northern
California and Oregon, the Siskiyou
Aerial project based in Cave Junction
was reinforced with a crew of 17
flown in from Missoula, Montana,
Wednesday. The flying in of Montana
replacements was a precautionary
measure against possible lightning
storms in the Siskiyou forest which
were feared might strike Wednesday or
Thursday. As of Wednesday the local
smokejumpers had 11 men in Klamath
forest, six in Shasta and Wednesday
noon two were flown into the Rogue
River national forest. The project has
a total of 25 jumpers, 2 squad leaders
and the foreman, Cliff Marshall.
Temperature hits 100 degrees
twice. Yesterday’s rainfall broke a
monthlong dry spell in the Valley
postponing any chance of local
forest closure. The thermometer
took a beating twice last week with
temperatures of 100 or more degrees
recorded twice by the ranger station.
Northern California loggers have
voluntarily shut down temporarily at
the request of the Six Rivers national
forest. Several Valley logging outfits
have been affected by the California
closure.
‘Cat’ on rocks ignites fire.
Sparks created by a cat skidding on
rocks ignited a forest fire on a ridge
about 2 miles north of White Lumber
Co. of Selma, Monday afternoon.
Ralph Kaiser was logging the area
when the fire was discovered at about
1:30 p.m. The state fire patrol and
volunteer crews and equipment had
the blaze under control by 4 p.m.
confining it within about a two-acre
area.
Services held for drowning
victim. Graveside services were held
at the Laurel Cemetery near Kerby
Wednesday for Linda Sue Jerome,
17-month-old daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Francis M. Jerome of Holland.
The youngster drowned in an irrigation
ditch near the Jerome home at about 10
a.m. Sunday. Attempts to resuscitate
the child by Valley Ambulance Service
and Dr. A.N. Collman failed after
the body had been discovered by her
father.
Falling tree top injures Ralph
Sowell. A falling tree top seriously
injured Ralph Sowell Saturday
morning and he wasn’t found in the
woods until two hours later by his
wife. Sowell was brought into Cave
Junction by Valley Ambulance Service
for treatment of two fractures below
the knee on his right leg, injured back
and internal injuries. He was taken to
a Medford hospital Saturday afternoon
where he underwent surgery that
evening. Mr. and Mrs. Sowell operate
a logging and mill firm in the Valley.
Now playing at the Ivy
Theatre. “Two Tickets to Broadway”
starring: Tony Martin, Janet Leigh,
Gloria DeHaven, Ann Miller and
Eddie Bracken; “Sailor Beware”
starring: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis
and Corrinne Calvet; “A Millionaire
for Christy” starring: Fred Macmurray
and Eleanor Parker; and “Pandora and
the Flying Dutchman” starring: James
Mason and Ava Gardner.
Summer 2016
LAST SHOW
August 4,
Rosie Wittman
Refreshments on sale by Bobbalou’s Hamburgers and Dogs
Sound provided by Jammers Jukebox Check him out on Facebook at Jammers Jukebox
JP Auto &
Metal Recycling
New Parts - Used Parts
-We Buy Scrap Metal-
Certified Scales
29910 Redwood Hwy
Cave Junction, OR
541-592-3691
Calendar
Art’s Red A U Z Z I E
Garter
MARK
POOL TOURNEY
Tuesdays @ 6:30
KARAOKE
Wednesdays 9 PM
F r i d a y, A u g . 5
5:30 PM
from
Taylor’s
Country Store
Karaoke
w/ Steve
GUPPY
Friday, Aug. 5 @ 9 p.m.
Saturday night @ 6
Pool Tourney - Saturdays at 7
Every Wednesday
Free Pool Games on
Sunday
Open MIC Night
6 - 8 p.m.
Jay Barley
F ridays @ 6 p.m
Sportsman
Tavern
MADD
MOOSE
The
ROSIE
WITTMAN
G Spot
Friday, Aug. 5, 7 p.m.
Jammer’s Hump Day
Karaoke
Jammer Dave’s
Karaoke
8 p.m. - midnight
Sat. Aug. 6 @ 8 p.m.
OPEN MIC
THURSDAYS 7 - 10 PM
{Check out Tuesdays for
surprise musical guests!}
@
McG re w’s!