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. SDS Lumber
Company is a goal oriented organization that strives to be efficient in
safety, quality, and production. We want people that can come into
our already efficient teams to learn, grow, and become an asset to the
Company. If that sounds interesting to you or if you would like to learn
more contact Nick Reeves, HR Supervisor at (503) 720-7465 or email
nickr@sdslumber.com.
Current Openings:
-Utility Worker
-Dryer Grader
-Class A CDL Truck Driver
-Maintenance Millwright
-Saw Filer
Benefits include:
• 401(K) Matching
• Benefits include: Health (medical. dental,
Vision. Prescription); Life insurance
• Access to Sponsored Medical Clinic
(no cost for employee and family).
• Vacation pay & 8-paid holidays
• Employees discounts on our wood
products, work apparel and more.
• On the job training
• Plus other benefits!
If interested please give Nick the HR Supervisor a call at
(503) 720-7465 or email at nickr@sdslumber.com
WE ARE AN EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER!