www.hoodrivernews.com
A9
Hood River News, Wednesday, February 4, 2015
HOW TO HELP
F IRE
Continued from Page A1
and an extra credit home-
work assignment, lost in the
fire.
“Gracie’s come out fairly
well, plenty of people have
come forth with clothing in
her size,” Adams said.
The Jan. 31 article on the
fire stated that injuries were
minor, but Adams said her
father suffered first degree
burns to his nose, ears, arm
and back, and is under a doc-
tor’s treatment.
The fire that destroyed the
Westcliff Drive home, leav-
ing the family with literally
just the clothes on their
backs, is under investiga-
tion. Westside Fire District
marshal Jim Trammell said,
“Because it’s a large loss, we
are working with the insur-
ance company and inspector,
and we need to schedule an
engineer to check for struc-
tural safety.” That could hap-
pen as early as Tuesday, Feb.
3, Trammell said.
“We might have to shore
up building to see if we can
get inside and investigate,”
he said.
“It was a total loss,” Tram-
mell said. The fire broke out
at about 5:30 a.m.
“When we ar rived on
scene, the fire was quite well
established in the house, and
it took us 45 minutes to
knock it down,” Trammell
said. “The first arriving en-
gine found it fully involved,
with fire from all four cor-
ners. We’re not sure why the
fire spread this quickly. The
owners believe it probably
started in the garage.” Two
vehicles in the garage were
also destroyed.
A total of 25 firefighters
responded, aboard three en-
gines and two tenders, ac-
cording to Trammell. They
were from Westside and
Hood River fire departments,
and the Odell station of
Wy’east Fire District.
“We knew immediately
we would have to take a de-
fensive tactic, to just get the
fire out, and it was too dan-
gerous to go inside,” Tram-
mell said.
Hood River Police officer
Erin Mason was the first offi-
cial on scene, one minute
after the call came in, and
the home was already engulfed.
The family is being put up at
The Vagabond Lodge, a few
blocks east of their home, until
Feb. 13, and nearby restaurants
are providing meals. White Buf-
falo Wine Bar has invited the
family to dinners, and Char-
burger gave the Maurers a gift
certificate for breakfast, lunch
or dinner, with no amount filled
in.
The next major task is finding
a long-term rental, one that ac-
cepts a small dog. (Two dogs in
the home escaped the fire,
Adams said.) Contact the Hood
River Windermere office if you
can help.
“One lesson we’ve learned is:
don’t keep all your valuable pa-
pers in the house where they can
get burned,” Adams said.
She noted the long process of
getting inspectors safely onto
the property before any insur-
ance reimbursement is possible.
“Hopefully we can get the
money and slowly restore items,
but we don’t expect to rescue
anything,” Adams said.
They lost everything – even
eyeglasses.
Adams said Cascade Eye Cen-
ter provided her parents with
temporary eyeglasses at no
charge, and “a good friend at
Windermere rented my Mom a
car for a week, which was huge.”
“When you lose everything
it’s really difficult to get identifi-
cation. I spent all day yesterday
driving Dad to utility companies
just trying to get copies of bills
to get a birth certificate to get a
driver’s license,” she said.
Adams said donations have
been coming in at Windermere,
but living in a motel makes it
difficult to store donations. The
Maurers are keeping a list of
items people have offered, and
Adams asked that donations be
made to the US Bank fund.
Checks can also be made to the
Maurers and sent to Adams at
P.O. Box 1724, Hood River, OR
97031.
Adams said, “When a fire hap-
pens there are all these things
you just don’t think about.
“There are the needs in the fu-
ture, but right now it’s the im-
mediacy of keeping them in a
place that’s warm, and fortu-
nately they have that,” she said.
■
Firefighters spent most of the
day Saturday in clean up at the
Westcliff Drive fire scene.
Museum hosts educators
■ Warming Shelter —
Hood River War ming
Shelter is open at Hood
River Expo Center build-
ing, 405 Portway Ave..
From 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.
nightly, homeless people
can find a warm place to
sleep, bedding, meals,
and connection to com-
munity resources, all at
no charge. The service is
offered nightly at rotat-
ing locations.
■ Volunteer drivers
from the Mid-Columbia
area are needed to take
veterans to the Portland
VA Medical Center. Ore-
gon drivers must have a
valid driver’s license and
a good driving record.
CDL is not needed. For
more information, con-
tact the DAV Coordinator
at 1-800-949-1004, ext.
57804 or ext. 56957.
■ HR Care Center —
The Family Council at
the Hood River Care Cen-
ter is seeking donations
f o r
w i l d
bird-
seed, to
be used
in fil-
ing the
resi-
dents’
bird-
feed-
e r s .
This is
an ac-
tivity which is enjoyed all
year round. Donations
may be dropped off at the
Hood River Care Center,
729 Henderson Road. For
delivery or pick-up, call
Debbie Medina, 541-490-
1575 or Carol Daniel,
chairman, 541-490-6136 or
hrccfc551@gmail.com.l
■ History Museum of
Hood River County — If
you like wine you are
going to want to be one of
the first to see a new ex-
hibition, what better way
than to volunteer for the
installation? There are so
many new exhibits, edu-
cational events, and other
happenings at the muse-
um, and more volunteers
are needed! If you want to
become part of our fami-
ly and have any interest
in helping during this ex-
citing time, email Andrea
at
thmvolun-
teer@hrecn.net or call
541-386-6772
■ Educator Apprecia-
tion Evening, Feb. 5, 4 to 6
p.m.; educators get in
free, including home
school educators.
This is a chance for the
museum to thank educa-
tors and to demonstrate
the educational opportu-
nities available to stu-
dents at the History Mu-
seum of Hood River
County.
■ “Made in the Gorge”
Movie Night, Friday, Feb.
20, doors open at 5:30
p.m., movie starts at 6
p.m.
Want in?
If your non-
profit is look-
ing for volun-
teers or has
other needs,
send brief in-
formation to
hrnews@hood
rivenews.com
WEEKLY SUDOKU
S ALCIDO
Continued from Page A1
blocking the flow of the
creek, preventing migration
of endangered fish species.
Other projects have included
the cleaning up of nuisance
properties — those with
stored solid waste — to pre-
serve farmland and property
values, and getting unautho-
rized second dwellings into
compliance.
“I look forward to applying
my compliance enforcement
skills at a local level to pro-
duce tangible results for
Hood River County resi-
dents, which I hope
will include protection of
property values, farming
practices and promoting a
clean environment,” she
said.
Salcido has 23 years of ex-
perience enforcing civil and
criminal regulations, “with
an emphasis on working
with the public to achieve
voluntary
compliance
through outreach and train-
ing.” Before moving to Hood
River, she was Special Agent
in Charge of the San Jose Of-
fice of Export Enforcement
for the U.S. Department of
Your
Mortgage
Lender
Commerce, a position that
involved investigating tech-
nology exports to foreign
lands “that posed a threat to
U.S. national security, law en-
forcement and intelligence
agencies, and freight for-
warding companies to pre-
vent illegal exports from de-
livery to prohibited end uses
or end users,” she said.
“I am most proud of the
contribution my team made
interrupting various supply
chains of weapons of mass
destruction programs in
countries that pose a threat
to U.S. interests.”
Salcido has created fact
sheets regarding the limita-
Bernie Dittenhofer
NMLS #2550 NMLS #114231
A division of Mann Mortgage, LLC
509 Cascade Ave., Suite F, Hood River
Apply at berniedittenhofer.westcorpmortgage.com
Shop Local
The Gorge
ANSWER
Sponsored by:
Call
541-386-1234
to advertise here
8
4
6
2
7
5
2 4 3 9
1 6 5 3
7 9 8 1
4
9
5
8
3
6
1
8
3
5
2
7
6
7
2
1
4
9
9
3
7
6
1
4
8
2
5
2
5
1
9
8
3
6
7
4
5
2
9
7
6
8
1
4
3
3
6
8
4
5
1
7
9
2
7
1
4
3
9
2
5
8
6
Puzzle on Page A5
Dr. Stephen Snyder after 42 years practicing general dentistry here
in Hood River, will be limiting his practice at Hood River Dental to the
treatment of sleep apnea, snoring and complex denture prosthetics.
Dr. Snyder would like to thank all of his patients for their trust and
loyalty allowing him to care for their dental health needs over the last
four decades. If you have any friends or family who
are suffering from snoring, sleep apnea, are CPAP
intolerant, he would love to assist them.
Call Bernie today
541-490-0167
Licensed Mortgage Banker
tions on property zoned for
rural residential or exclusive
farm use for Hood River
County; those interested can
stop by the office, located at
601 State Street (second
floor),
or
email
j u l i e. s a l c i d o @ c o. h o o d -
river.or.us.
Dr. Snyder
Dr. Snyder will continue at Hood River Dental as a
valuable part of this advanced dental team.
1805 Belmont Drive • Hood River • 541-386-4255