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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2015)
4A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2015 WESTERN WILDFIRES )LUH¿JKWHUVWRJHWDGGLWLRQDOUHVRXUFHV The Associated Press The task force sent Friday departed for a Another Clatsop Coun- staging area in Enter- ty task force was mobi- prise at about 12:30 a.m. lized Friday morning by David Rankin, Sea- the State Fire Marshal for side Fire Department response and assistance captain, is leading the on the Grizzly Bear Fire task force that consists in northeast Oregon near of personnel from Sea- 7UR\7KH¿UHKDVH[SDQG- side, Gearhart, Lewis ed to 12,000 acres. and Clark, Warrenton Last week, a local task and Knappa. They will force was dispatched to primarily be used for Baker County to help structure protection. protect homes and other Smoke from the fires structures threatened by drifted over the North WKH &RUQHW ¿UH LQ QHDUE\ Coast during the week- Hereford. end, clouding skies. The Daily Astorian )LUH¿JKWHUVDFURVVWKH:HVW saw little relief over the week- HQG DV ZLOG¿UHV UDJHG LQ WKH drought-stricken region, but for those in Washington state, other states will soon provide additional resources. A look at large Western ZLOG¿UHV WASHINGTON STATE )LUH RI¿FLDOV VD\ D FRP- SOH[ RI ZLOG¿UHV EXUQLQJ LQ north-central Washington has grown to cover 374 square miles. Infrared mapping found WKH¿UHVVSUHDGDERXWVTXDUH miles Saturday evening. Fire spokeswoman Su- zanne Flory says there could EHVRPHH[SORVLYH¿UHJURZWK Sunday if a cap of smoke lifts from Okanogan County, as has been forecast. When the smoke OLIWV RQ D ZLOG¿UH KXPLGLW\ GURSV KHDW ULVHV DQG ¿UHV FDQ ÀDUHXS)ORU\VD\VLW¶VVLPLODU WRZKDWKDSSHQVZKHQWKHÀXH LVRSHQHGRQD¿UHSODFH Flory says the good news is that less smokes means re- strictions on air travel will be OLIWHG DQG PRUH ¿UH WDQNHUV FDQ À\ RYHU DQG GURS ZDWHU and chemical retardant. 0HDQZKLOH RI¿FLDOV KDYH downgraded some evacuation notices, allowing some peo- ple to return to their homes. On Sunday evening, the state Department of Health said that should nearby wild- ¿UHVUHDFKWKHVLWHRIDQRZGH- funct uranium mine in Stevens County in eastern Washington, WKHVPRNHZRQ¶WEHDQ\PRUH WR[LFWKDQWKHVWDQGDUGVPRNH IURPDZLOG¿UH In an announcement, the department said that radioac- tive materials at the Midnight Mine, which is about three miles northwest of Wellpinit on the Spokane Reservation, ³ZRQ¶WH[DFHUEDWHWKHGDQJHUV RI ZLOG¿UH VPRNH LI WKH ¿UHV overtake the site as the nat- urally occurring radioactive material stays in its original rock form and does not burn.” Local task force sent to KHOS¿JKW2UHJRQ¿UH AP Photo/Elaine Thompson University of Alaska Fairbanks firefighting students Preston Roberts, back, and Ben Schrage send up a cloud of steam as they douse a hotspot left from a wildfire Sunday in Chelan, Wash. Sixteen large wildfires are burning across central and eastern Washing- ton, covering more than 920 square miles. More than 200 homes have been destroyed and more than 12,000 homes and thousands of other structures remain threatened. CALIFORNIA Planes and helicopters were making major liquid drops on a ZLOG¿UHWKDWEURNHRXW6XQGD\ afternoon near a ski resort in the San Bernardino Mountains, EULQJLQJ WKH ¿UVW JDLQV DJDLQVW the blaze. The U.S. Forest Service says WKH¿UHQHDU6QRZ6XPPLW6NL Resort south of Big Bear Lake has forced evacuation orders for about 400 homes, many of them cabins and vacation houses. It has grown to 85 acres, but it is 10 percent contained. Water cannons from the ski resort usually used for making snow are being pointed toward WKH¿UH (DUOLHU 6XQGD\ ¿UH¿JKWHUV were gaining ground against a ZLOG¿UHWKDWOHGWRWKHHYDFXD- tion of thousands of people and destroyed a lodge in Kings Can- yon National Park. Despite relentlessly high WHPSHUDWXUHV ¿UH FUHZV LQ- FUHDVHGWKHEOD]H¶VFRQWDLQPHQW to 7 percent, the U.S. Forest 6HUYLFH VDLG 7KH ZLOG¿UH KDV burned across more than 73 square miles of timber and EUXVKOHIWSDUFKHGE\WKHVWDWH¶V H[WHQGHGGURXJKW At least 2,500 campers, hikers, employees and resi- GHQWV ÀHG WKH DUHD ODVW ZHHN including staffers and summer campers at The Hume Lake Christian Camp. Nobody was hurt when the Kings Canyon lodge, which bills itself as a folksy getaway for tourists, was burned to its foundation. The lightning-sparked blaze has been burning for three weeks. It is one of 15 ZLOG¿UHV EXUQLQJ DFURVV &DOL- fornia. MONTANA )LUH¿JKWHUV DQG UHVLGHQWV are bracing for a return to more LQWHQVH¿UHDFWLYLW\LQZHVWHUQ 0RQWDQDZKHUHZLOG¿UHVKDYH scored thousands of acres and threatened some small com- munities. $¿UHZHDWKHUZDWFKSRVW- ed Sunday warned that gusty winds and low humidity were H[SHFWHG0RQGD\DIWHUQRRQLQ Glacier National Park and the Kootenai and Flathead nation- al forest areas. 2Q *ODFLHU¶V VRXWKHUQ ERXQGDU\DZLOG¿UHLVDERXWD mile south of the town of Es- VH[ZKHUHDERXWDUHDUHV- idents have been advised to be ready to evacuate. Fire spokesman Jonathan Moor says crews are working WRNHHSWKH¿UHDZD\IURPWKH WRZQEXWLW¶VGLI¿FXOWWRSUHGLFW ZKDW WKH ¿UH ZLOO GR RYHU WKH QH[WFRXSOHRIGD\V OREGON Cooler temperatures and UHGXFHG ZLQGV KHOSHG ¿UH- ¿JKWHUVRQ6DWXUGD\ZKRZHUH EDWWOLQJDODUJHZLOG¿UHLQ2UH- gon south of the towns of John Day and Canyon City. )LUH RI¿FLDOV H[SHFW ZLQG to pick up on Sunday, but since ZLQGV ZHUH H[SHFWHG WR EORZ out of the southeast, they will VHQGWKH¿UHEDFNLQWRDQDUHD that has already burned. The lightning-caused Can- \RQ&UHHN &RPSOH[ RI ¿UHV KDV EXUQHG DERXW VTXDUH miles since Aug. 12. 7RWKHQRUWKHDVW¿UH¿JKWHUV also made progress Saturday RQ WKH *UL]]O\ %HDU &RPSOH[ RI ¿UHV LQ QRUWKHDVW 2UHJRQ and southeast Washington. 7KH¿YHOLJKWQLQJFDXVHG¿UHV KDYH EXUQHG PRUH WKDQ square miles since Aug. 13. Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian An immense cloud of smoke from wildfires across the Pacific Northwest floats down the Columbia River. Highway 26 closed GXHWRZLOG¿UH has covered about 26 acres, %XI¿QJWRQ VDLG $ERXW U.S. Highway 26 remained people, including personnel closed Monday morning be- from the Oregon Department FDXVH RI D ¿UH EXUQLQJ QHDU of Forestry, contract crews milepost 43, two miles west DQG UXUDO ¿UH GHSDUWPHQWV have been working to battle of Manning. The Oregon Department the blaze, which is about 10 of Transportation has diverted percent contained. 7KH¿UHLVORFDOL]HGDQGLV WUDI¿FRQWR86+LJKZD\ and Timber Road. The depart- not threatening any towns or ment hopes to have Highway VWUXFWXUHV%XI¿QJWRQVDLG $ ¿UH¿JKWHU ZKR VXIIHUHG 26 opened sometime Monday, according to ODOT District from smoke inhalation Satur- day was taken to a Portland 0DQDJHU0DUN%XI¿QJWRQ 7KH ¿UH ZKLFK EHJDQ DW hospital. No other injuries around 3:00 p.m. Saturday, were reported. The Daily Astorian WANTED 25 PEOPLE WHO Have difficulty hearing and understanding in background noise. These 25 people are needed to evaluate the most advanced Miracle-Ear® nearly invisible digital hearing instruments † and the effectiveness of the directional microphone systems in background noise. Candidates will be asked to evaluate our instruments RISK FREE.* If you are satisfied with the improvement in your hearing and wish to keep the instruments, you may do so at tremendous savings. Free hearing tests** are provided to anyone interested in knowing if they qualify for this program. 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