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About Columbia Gorge news. (The Dalles, OR) 2020-current | View Entire Issue (June 30, 2021)
Wednesday,June30,2021 Columbia Gorge News www.columbiagorgenews.com 3 Three fires near Rowena quickly contained Firefighters responded to three fires Friday morning, June 25, burning adjacent to Interstate 84 near Rowena, and while working to put these fires out two addition- al starts were discovered along the freeway. These fires, named the Milepost 78 Fire, burned grass, brush and timber primarily within Mayer State Park protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF). The three larger fires burned approximately seven acres between I-84 and the railroad tracks, the other two fires were limited to a “spot.” When resources arrived the fire was running, spotting and torching with 8-10 foot flame lengths at the head of the fire. This fire behavior was mitigated by numerous water drops from Fire Boss aircraft. Moderating fire behavior with the water drops allowed firefighters on the ground to engage the fire and begin fire line construction. In addition to the two Oregon Department of Forestry Fire Boss aircraft, a Type 1 helicopter on loan from the S-503 Fire, and an air attack platform from Central Oregon Fire Management Services en- gaged in the fire suppression effort. The fire was managed in Unified Command be- tween Oregon Department of Forestry and Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue. “The Fire Bosses were criti- cal for keeping the fires north of the highway and protect- ing numerous structures in Rowena,” said Rick Fletcher, incident commander for ODF. Friday night, the fire was 20% contained with fire line nearly complete around the perimeter. Overnight, Mid- Columbia Fire and Rescue provided patrols to ensure the fire did not move outside the fire line. On Saturday, two engines, one crew, one faller, and overhead were anticipat- ed to be working to secure the fire. Evacuation information is available from the Wasco County Sheriff on their face- book page, www.facebook. com/WascoCountySheriff. Two contract hand crews, an ODF crew, engines and overhead from Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, BLM Prineville, Wasco County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, and Oregon Department of Transportation were involved in suppression of the fire and ensuring public safety. Fire departments across the Columbia Gorge also provid- ed resources to the fire fight- ing effort, working to protect their community. These departments include Mid- Columbia Fire and Rescue, Dufur, Mosier, Dallesport, Hood River, Cascade Locks, Westside, Wy’East and Parkdale. The cause of the fire is un- der investigation at this time. Regulated-Use Closure is in effect for the Oregon Department of Forestry. Mowing of dried grass and chainsaw use is restricted between the hours of 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Additional restric- tions can be found at www. odfcentraloregon.com. A Fire Boss fixed wing air- craft, above, drops water on the “Milepost 78 fire” near Mayer State Park and Rowena. A helicopter, loaned from the S-503 Fire on the Warm Springs Reservation, at left, also re- sponded to the fire, which was contained to only seven acres, despite 10-foot flames torching at the fires leading edge when crews first arrived. Top photo courtesy Oregon Department of Forestry Photo. Photo at left by Chelsea Marr. Animal shelter thanks community following fire evacuation Alana Lackner ■ By Columbia Gorge News were just some of many community members to help ensure the shelter, and all of its occupants, were safe. THE DALLES — The Home Drynan said the outpour of At Last Humane Society support from the community released a statement June was incredible. 17 thanking everyone who “We had people coming helped them evacuate the from both directions,” he shelter in The Dalles follow- ing a June 1 fire threat. The Home at Last animal shelter, in background, was recently evac- said. “The people doing the roadblocks were stopping af- Stephen Drynan, executive uated as grass and brush burned just to the west. director of Home At Last’s Mark B. Gibson photo ter awhile because there was parent organization Central too many people coming in ... Oregon Animal Friends, said moment because though Our parking lot was full.” spraying down the shelter Home At Last has dealt with and the trailer Drynan stays Shelter Manager Brittany Drynan said it did end up fires before, they have never Hopkins did a great job being a challenge to evacuate in when he visits. There reached the shelter before. getting everything in place the animals. A community were also many firefighters “This time it actually and planning the evacuation member had arranged for keeping the fire at bay, and reached the edge of the prop- Drynan said he believes that Cascade Pet Camp in Hood despite the high-pressure situation. if it were not for them, things River to house the animals, erty,” he said. Drynan said most of the but then the freeway was shut could’ve been a lot worse. Drynan said there was a evacuation was spur of the The officer and firefighters down. police officer on site who was Luckily, he said, commu- nity member Lana Atkins runs a business called Lana’s Kennels and was able to take in all of the dogs and cats. There were about 30 animals, he said, around 20 dogs and 10 cats. Central Oregon Animal Friends is also the parent or- ganization to the Three Rivers Humane Society in Madras. Three Rivers is significantly larger than Home At Last, which would cause addi- tional complications if they needed to evacuate. “That’d have been another story if it had happened [in Madras],” Drynan said. “On average, we have about 75 pets down here.” Fire season remains a potential problem for both shelters, especially with the summer being as hot and dry as it is predicted to be, which is why it’s important to have evacuation plans for both humans and animals, Drynan said. There is an evacuation plan for Three Rivers, despite the large number of animals, he said. They have some local fosters who will be able to help, and he also suspects there would be more support from the community. “Once the word comes out I guarantee (people wanting to help) will come out of the woodwork,” he said. “They always do.” garbage in, so they have to find a solution,” she said. She believes a school cur- riculum to educate children would be a start to creating more mindful consumers. “One of my dreams is to go into a school district and help them become a zero waste facility,” she said. All three said they believe legislation is necessary to make any headway with the problem of recycling. “I’m more focused on the larger upstream issues, trying to influence the designers of packaging,” Skakel said. “And legislation is the thing I’ve really been focused on for nearly a decade.” Irving said she believes recycling needs to be brought to a local level “so we’re not driving (our waste) halfway across the world to try to recycle something. I feel lo- cally, we have a much better chance of being environmen- tally friendly … I see a ton of opportunity in all of this chaos.” Tucker said she sees five things needing to happen in order for the U.S. to move away from landfills: Education; legislation; pro- ducer responsibility; corpora- tions changing corporate culture; and technology. “Focus on those five things together is going to make a sustainable, lasting change,” she said. and we like things fast … And then with COVID, there was a major problem with that Realities because ow we need single use plastics because they’re discussed sterile and it’s compounded Continued from page 1 the problem.” Irving has a biology back- rethink recycling. ground and was previously in wastewater compliance. “My first reflex was, it’s She also knows what it’s like we’ve been lied to for like to have to choose a so long about this amazing product based on financial thing called recycling, (and constraints. then) to find out that we’re “I know what it’s like to polluting the backyards of choose between Styrofoam our neighbors, polluting the backyards of other countries or a paper plate,” she said. “Styrofoam is a lot cheaper — we were just being com- pletely irresponsible with the so those of us who want to make a bigger environmental residuals of our lives … impact are not able to due to “One of the biggest mes- the social model that we’re at, sages that I’m trying to get out there at this point is that if the pay scale that we’re at.” Tucker described her you walk into a store and you business, which she started are shopping but you’re not in 2017 to support Skamania, looking at the packaging to make sure that it’s made out Klickitat, Sherman, Wasco of recycled content, then you and Hood River counties in are part of the problem,” she waste reduction efforts. “Our mission is to change said. “… We’re a wasteful so- ciety and we like things easy the way you think about RECYCLING waste to create efficient, sustainable systems to as a pathway to zero waste — reducing, reusing and lastly, recycling,” she said. Her goal is to educate people regarding the “triple bottom line”: People, profit and planet. “Instead of one bottom line, there should be three,” she said. “… This is the big one for me. You cannot make a healthy product without healthy people, and you can’t have healthy people without a healthy planet. You have to have a healthy planet and house healthy people and then have happy people to make a profit. That’s kind of the big eye opener for me when I started this company.” Until the United States runs out of places to put its garbage, then there will be a push to fill landfills, she said. “I’ve noticed one reason why you see a lot of zero waste innovations (in Europe) is they don’t have land to put REGISTER FOR OUR GORGE YOUTH MENTORING FUNDRAISER. AN EVENT THAT GETS YOU MOVING! Find out more at nextdoorinc.org is HIRING! We’re looking for people to join our successful team! People who enjoy working with a team to produce like-minded results. 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