DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
145TH YEAR, NO. 63
ONE DOLLAR
Hotel fire
might be
deliberate
Comfort Suites
evacuated on
Monday night
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Candace Pozdolski, left, and Jennifer Peden, right, are lead dispatchers at Astoria 911 Dispatch.
CONTROLLED
CHAOS
ASTORIA DISPATCH
COPES WITH STRESS,
MANAGEMENT CHANGES
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
‘C
ontrolled chaos” is the phrase Astoria dispatchers say
best summarizes the nature of their profession. For these
dispatchers in particular, experience in this realm has been
critical.
An independent assessment released in August found that the Asto-
ria Police Department was approaching crisis level prior to Brad John-
ston’s sudden retirement as chief. Part of the report detailed issues
with management and staffing shortages that have plagued Astoria 911
Dispatch.
With Interim Police Chief Geoff Spalding now on board, the dis-
patch center has been taking the first steps in solving its immediate
issues.
“We’re back on an even keel and moving the department ahead,”
Emergency Communications Manager Jeff Rusiecki said. “Every-
body knew there was a problem somewhere and things weren’t run-
ning smooth. Whose fault is that? I don’t know. I’m not going to put
the blame anywhere.”
See DISPATCH, Page 7A
‘THIS IS THE
ULTIMATE
CUSTOMER
SERVICE JOB.
YOU CAN
QUIETLY MAKE
A DIFFERENCE
THAT NO ONE
SEES. THAT’S
IMPORTANT, AND
I LIKE THAT.’
Jennifer Peden | lead dispatcher
Authorities believe a
gas leak and fire at Comfort
Suites in Astoria on Monday
night may have been started
intentionally.
After meeting yesterday
at the hotel on Lief Erikson
Drive, fire personnel deter-
mined a mechanical failure
was not the cause of the ini-
tial gas leak near a natural
gas meter in the back of the
building just before 9:30 p.m.
The exact cause of the leak
remains unknown.
“Right now, the concern
is that a person intentionally
tampered with the natural gas
line causing the leak, which
led to the fire,” Astoria Police
Deputy Chief Eric Halverson
said.
The leak then started a fire
that extended into the build-
Warrenton
may pursue
dam study
Computer
modeling with
tide gates on
By DERRICK
DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Lead Dispatcher Candace Pozdolski monitors computer screens at the Astoria 911 Dispatch on Monday.
ing. While the bulk of the
fire burned outside, flames
did reach the hotel’s laundry
room. The inside part of the
fire was extinguished after a
water pipe burst and a ceil-
ing sprinkler activated. Water
from the pipe kept pumping
into the hotel, though, caus-
ing several inches of water to
flood the ground floor.
The fire prompted the
hotel, which was at full
capacity at the time, to evac-
uate dozens of guests from
75 rooms and find alterna-
tive lodging arrangements in
Astoria and Warrenton. No
injuries were reported.
Comfort Suites will
remain closed for the rest of
the week.
The Clatsop County
Major Crimes team has
joined the investigation and
is seeking the public’s help.
Anyone who saw someone in
the area of the Astoria River-
walk between Safeway and
the East Mooring Basin Mon-
day night is asked to call the
Astoria Police Department at
503-325-4411.
WARRENTON — War-
renton will likely seek federal
expertise on a computer-gen-
erated hydrology model of
the Eighth Street Dam with
the tide gates on to help gauge
the aging structure’s value for
flood control.
Mayor Henry Balensifer
and city commissioners said
Tuesday that they want more
study before reconsidering
the Skipanon Water Control
District’s attempt to remove
the dam to improve fish pas-
sage and water quality on the
Skipanon River.
The water district operated
the dam with the tide gates up
since 2012 and took the tide
gates off in 2015 with the
expectation the dam would
eventually be removed as a
hazard.
Lance Helwig, the levee
safety officer for the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers in
Portland, told city commis-
sioners Tuesday night there
is interest at the Army Corps
and the Natural Resources
Conservation Service in
new modeling of the dam.
The Army Corps is the fed-
eral partner on the city’s
levee system, while the Nat-
ural Resources Conservation
Service is the former federal
partner of the water district on
the dam.
The research, which
would likely be financed by
Warrenton, potentially with
federal and state grant money,
could help break a stalemate
between the city and the
water district over the future
of the dam.
See DAM, Page 7A
A Knappa mom turns pain into action
A voice in drug
policy debate
By JACK HEFFERNAN
The Daily Astorian
An increasingly visible face
in local drug addiction policy
discussions made an appear-
ance with Gov. Kate Brown
last week for a ceremonial bill
signing at the state Capitol.
Kerry Strickland, a Knappa
mother whose son died of
a heroin overdose, watched
as Brown signed a new law
that allows for quicker access
to Naloxone — a drug that
reverses opioid overdoses.
After the signing, Strickland
attended the first meeting of
Brown’s opioid task force.
Strickland, who founded
Jordan’s Hope for Recovery,
said the signing and meeting
signaled a good start as Ore-
gon attempts to fight an epi-
demic that has led to thousands
of deaths in the state.
“They don’t have a plan yet,
but they have an idea about the
direction they’re going in,”
Strickland said.
Strickland founded Jor-
dan’s Hope after her 24-year-
old son, the nonprofit orga-
nization’s namesake, died in
2015. Jordan began taking
painkillers after a high school
sports injury. He eventually
developed a heroin addiction
despite growing up in a sober
household with a mother who
had not consumed alcohol or
other substances for nearly 30
years.
Strickland’s organization
seeks to connect addicts with
treatment resources, conduct
outreach programs and advo-
cate for addiction prevention
policies. Nearly 20 months
after the organization was
founded, Strickland’s connec-
tions include various national
and state officials such as
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici,
See STRICKLAND, Page 7A
Submitted Photo
Kerry Strickland, second, from right, attended Gov. Kate
Brown’s ceremonial signing last week in Salem of a new
law that improves access to anti-overdose drugs. Strick-
land’s son, Jordan, died of a heroin overdose in 2015.