Illinois Valley news., July 25, 2018, Page 9, Image 9

Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Stay informed, stay out of the way
Annette McGee Rasch respect road closures. “Please
watch out for smoke and fire
IVN Senior Contributing Writer
traffic on the road and please
With so many fires burning
throughout the region this early
in the season, fire managers
are pleading with the public
to use common sense - and to
exercise caution so that people
aren’t making things harder on
firefighters and other Valley
residents.
And with so much summer
still ahead and fire fighting
resources already stretched too
thin, it’s also important to keep
improving fire safety on private
properties, and, to connect
with neighbors to assist or gain
assistance in times of emergency.
Getting the best and most
updated information can be
critically important as well.
Stay tuned for announcements
about upcoming community fire
meetings. Website links will be
made available to enable people
to watch these community fire
meetings online.
Rogue River-Siskiyou
National Forest Wild Rivers
District Ranger Matthew
Paciorek wants the public to
ROUNDUP
...
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“This is a free contract
between the property owner and
Public Works and is renewed
annually by Public Works who will
send a property owner a form to be
filled out, signed and returned to
them,” stated Ebert.
Suspending the vegetation
management services of the
respect the closure around the fire
to help keep firefighters safe,”
he said. Some of these roads are
narrow and dangerous in the best
of times, so now, with smoke
impairing visibility and oversized
vehicles which might need to
move quickly, the public needs to
stand down.
And while people often
want to get a closer look at
wildfires, the use of drones is
illegal. Wildfires are a “No Drone
Zone.” Fire managers say: “If
you fly, we can’t. Every time a
drone is spotted near the fire all
aircraft are grounded until we can
be sure the drone is clear of this
area.”
Last year in Prescott,
Arizona, 54-year-old Gene Alan
Carpenter was arrested for flying
a drone into the airspace near the
Goodwin Fire. He was accused
of endangering 14 aircraft
and ground personnel with a
“substantial risk of imminent
death or physical injury” after
flying his drone in the area. All
firefighting aircraft had to be
grounded for about an hour on
that fire, causing unfortunate fire
growth.
The wildfire situation
is serious enough without
additional human error making
things worse. Seventy percent
of wildfires in Oregon are
started by people; so it’s
imperative right now to not
take any unnecessary risks with
equipment use at home, camp
fires in the forest, fireworks,
tossing cigarette butts, or even
poor decisions while driving.
Fire managers also say good
citizens should confront or
help educate others who are
endangering the community.
Making good decisions
is also about getting timely
and reliable information, and
this can be a challenge with
so many active fires. A good
strategy may include using
multiple news sources to get
your daily updates. Below is a
comprehensive list of resources
available to the public for
information and assistance.
county is not without its trade-offs.
Although the land adjacent to your
property will no longer be sprayed
with Roundup, maintenance of
the plant growth there will be on
the owner’s dime from that time
up until the waiver expires. This
statement given by the JoCo Public
Works defines the obligations of
those county residents who choose
to file the agreement:
“A property owner can
submit an application... to have
IVFD
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“Not to be a laughing matter, but it just
seems odd that soon after this - my fire - the
bar that I usually like to go to which is the
Duck… that burned down,” Jordan said.
According to studies performed by
Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global
safety consulting and certification company,
SEE INFO ON A-10
Josephine County Public Works
restrict herbicide use on the road
right of way fronting their property.
However, property owners must
sign a written agreement which
requires them to maintain the
road shoulder, drainage ditches,
and sight clearance areas free
of vegetation at all times. The
owner also assumes responsibility
for any injuries to persons or
property damage while working
in the county right of way. When
house fires today are far more dangerous than
in the past. They concluded “larger homes,
plus open house geometries, plus increased
fuel loads, plus new construction materials,
equals faster fire propagation, shorter time
to flashover, rapid changes in fire dynamics,
shorter escape times and shorter structural
collapse times.”
Flashover - the rapid spreading of fire
due to intense heat - occurs eight times faster
in modern homes than it did 50 years ago. The
results of the studies were published in the
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TREE
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When Dan Dover,
representative from Main & Main,
land developer and new owner of
the lot was asked about why the tree
had to be taken down he said, “It
was a shame the tree had to come
down and we did look at the plans
to see if there was a way we could
keep it, but there was no way to do
it. The site is very tight -it looks like
a big lot; it is just dirt right now, but
it is a pretty big building. The tree
would have affected the ability of
movement for the trucks making
deliveries to the store and interfered
with parking.”
Dover also mentioned that he
was glad the chamber found a new
Christmas tree site and that Main &
Main would be happy and willing to
support the community.
According to a June 6 article
in the Illinois Valley News, Kayla
Kasha, vice president of marketing
for Grocery Outlet said, “We partner
with community food banks and
the local chapter of the chamber as
well as support other community
organizations in the effort to
maintain a ‘hyper-local focus’ on
business.”
On the bright side of the
a property owner fails to control
the vegetation, Josephine County
Public Works will resume its
regular maintenance operations.
Once a property owner
submits an application and it
is approved, Public Works will
provide ‘Owner Maintains
Roadside Vegetation’ signs for
property owners to initially install.
Thereafter, the owner is responsible
for maintenance and replacement, if
necessary.”
New Science Fire Safety Journal and can be
found at www.newscience.ul.com.
Coupled with climate change and the
sweltering summer sun and you’ve got a real
recipe for disaster.
“Have working smoke detectors in your
home ... working carbon monoxide detectors,”
Hoke replied when asked about preventative
measures. “Unattended cooking is a big cause
of fires. Smoking in bed is a big cause of fires.
“The three leading causes of fire in this
country are men, women and children, and
Christmas tree dilemma, Angela
Graves, coordinator for the I.V.
Chamber of Commerce announced
that the chamber already has a new
location and tree for the Christmas
Tree Lighting ceremony slated for
Nov. 23. Jeff Stiles from Oregon
Caves Chevron has donated the
location in his parking lot. The two
trees that hover above where the
Rosie’s Inferno Pizza truck parks will
be the new location of the Christmas
tree lighting. “We will light the two
trees together to make one big tree,”
said Graves. “I would like to start a
fundraising committee for some new
lights since when they bulldozed the
Christmas tree, the lights went with it
and were destroyed.”
Graves also wanted to let the
community know that there will be
a holiday committee open to the
public starting Saturday, Aug. 4, at 2
p.m. at Wild River Brewery & Pizza.
The committee will discuss and plan
for the Christmas Tree Lighting
Ceremony that will include the tree
lighting, Santa Clause, cookies,
caroling and a kid’s zone. “We will
definitely be doing the caroling like
we did last year and I am looking for
a new caroling leader.” Graves will
also be planning for a small business
Saturday event Nov. 24 to encourage
the community to shop local for the
holidays.
Any county residents who
seek to restrict herbicide use on
the land adjacent to their property
and are capable of assuming the
responsibilities outlined above,
and who have not already done
so, are encouraged to file for the
“Request not to apply herbicides
for vegetation and agreement to
maintain roadside vegetation”
contract. Josephine County Public
Works can be contacted at 541-474-
5460.
statistically it’s true,” Hoke added. “These
house fires are 90 percent of the time human
caused, as with the fire on Beebe; as with the
fire down on Mesa Verde.”
A few other tips to always keep in mind
are Stop, Drop and Roll, as well as Get Out,
Stay Out and Call 9-1-1. A very helpful list of
fire safety tips can be found at www.redcross.
org. On the home page, navigate to “Get Help”
in the upper right-hand corner, click “Types of
Emergencies” and then click “Fire.”
S PORTSMAN TAVER N
K araoKe
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Friday
Serving
+
CoCKtailS
C an ’ t wait to see
and hear all of you