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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 2016)
REGION Thursday, August 11, 2016 East Oregonian Crews making progress on Gibbon Fire RIETH Juntura Complex Fire reaches 24,301 acres East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Mill workers watch as lames engulf a log loader at Blue Mountain Lumber Products on Wednesday in Rieth. Fire destroys lumber yard’s second loader in a month East Oregonian Fire destroyed a lumber loader Wednesday at Blue Mountain Lumber Products near Pendleton. Chad Dodge, who helps run the lumber operation at 44112 Rieth Road, said this was the second loader the business lost to ire in a month. He described the event as “horrible” for his family’s business and said he could not talk further. Pendleton Fire Chief Mike Ciraulo said no one was harmed in the ire, but the large piece of equipment was a total loss. Pendleton ire received the call-out at 2:21 p.m. for a ire in the lumber yard. Ciraulo said lames totally engulfed the loader, which was leaking large quantities of fuel that also caught ire. Containing the blaze took some effort, he said, and required the use of the department’s foam-spraying truck. Once the ire was out, he said, crews continued to make sure spilled fuel did not re-ignite. He also said the department The Gibbon Fire, burning in the Blue Moun- tains east of Pendleton, is now 20 percent contained as crews worked Tuesday to strengthen ire lines. Lightning touched off the blaze earlier this week, and it has since increased to 194 acres near Meacham Creek and Stumbough Ridge. It is spread out between the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Umatilla National Forest in steep, rugged terrain. Approximately 60 people are battling the ire. Light rain fell over the area Tuesday, but warmer, drier weather is expected to set in for the rest of the week. Crews will attempt to conduct a burn back on the ire’s north side to draw the lames onto safer ground for ireighters. Mop-up will also continue along the Union Paciic Railroad tracks. In other Eastern Oregon ires (information from InciWeb): • Juntura Complex — The region’s largest ire complex has reached 24,301 acres as of Wednesday morning. It is made up of three ires burning near the Malheur River between Vale and Burns, all of which were started Aug. 7 by lightning. The Simmons Gulch Fire, located approximately 30 miles west of Vale, is now 60 percent contained; the Sheep Rock Fire, six miles south of Juntura, is 50 percent contained; and the Rooster Comb Fire, near Easterday Reservoir, is 95 percent contained. There are 431 personnel on the complex, though crews are expected to be scaled back as containment increases. The ire is burning in rangeland and sage grouse habitat. • Rail Fire — Located ive miles west of Unity in Baker County, the blaze has grown to 11,405 acres and remains 10 percent contained. Fire lines have been completed along roadsides and in strategic areas where containment can be safely achieved. There are 768 people, 25 crews, 10 dozers, 30 engines, 19 water tenders and 7 helicopters are assigned to the ire. The cause has not been deter- mined. • Durkee Complex — Made up of multiple light- ning-sparked ires in Baker County, near Interstate 84 west of Durkee. Together, they total 850 acres and are 75 percent contained. The Umatilla National Forest advises there is a chance for more thun- derstorms, including dry storms, in the forecast for this weekend. To report additional ires, call Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch at 541-963-7171 or dial 9-1-1. HERMISTON Staff photo by E.J. Harris A Pendleton ireighter attempts to put of a ire on a burning log loader at Blue Mountain Lumber Products on Wednesday in Rieth. notiied the Oregon Department of Envi- ronmental Quality because of the fuel, and the cause of the ire remains under investigation. New councilors consider conlicts between jobs and elected ofice By ANTONIO SIERRA East Oregonian Chalmers Fairley commissions. When faced with a potential conlict of interest on one of the commissions, Fairley has typically stated the conlict before proceeding with a vote if he determines that he will make no inancial gain from his action. That process is in accor- dance with Oregon law. According to the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission’s guide for public oficials, the state has two different deinitions of conlict of interest. A potential conlict of interest could have an impact on the personal inances of an elected oficial, a relative or an associated business. The oficial must announce the conlict prior to taking any action, including voting or abstaining, but otherwise is allowed to participate. As the regional coor- dinator, Fairley said he doesn’t control a budget, instead connecting cities and THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY! Primmer counties with state resources from other departments. Fairley said he wants to use his economic development experience to aid the city, but not at the expense of muddling the line between his job and his council position. Councilor Paul Chalmers, the Umatilla County director of assessment and taxation, has also run into conlict issues since being appointed to the council in February. His name will appear on the November ballot, but it’s more or less a formality because his opponent Jim Swearingen has said he’s no longer interested in the position. Noting his administrative duties with Pendleton’s enterprise zone, Chalmers abstained from voting on a resolution to establish the city as an “E-Commerce” zone at a July 5 meeting. While most of Chalmers’ other dealings with Pend- leton include budget resolu- tions and inputting tax data, he said he ran on a platform of integrity and transparency and doesn’t want to cast any doubt on his motivations. Chalmers will be joined by another county director when the council holds its irst meeting in January. Primmer leads Umatilla County’s community justice program, which oversees post-incarceration supervi- sion. While Primmer doesn’t expect his job to intersect with city business too often — community justice regularly works with the Pendleton Police Depart- ment and coordinates work crew opportunities with the city — he wants to draw “a clear, bright line” between his job with the county and his role on the city council. Primmer plans to consult with the city attorney and other staff when potential conlicts arise. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0836. &RPIRUWDWWKH7RXFK /LIW&KDLUV *UHJ·V 6OHHS&HQWHU 6RIDV¶Q0RUH $GMXVWDEOH&RPIRUW 6WDUWLQJDW $GMXVWDEOH&RPIRUW Because of the wonderful people in our community, we were able to have the experience of a lifetime at the West Regional Little League Softball Tournament in San Bernardino, CA Police arrest three burglary suspects By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian PENDLETON The Pendleton City Council’s 2017 freshman class has an unusual quality. All three men elected to their irst term — Scott Fairley, Dale Primmer and Paul Chalmers — hold high-level positions with Umatilla County or state government. Fairley, Primmer and Chalmers all have dealings with the Pendleton city government in their profes- sional capacities and each of them has considered how they will approach ethical conlicts in the next four years. Although he was only elected in May and will join the council in January, Fairley might have the most experience dealing with conlicts of interest. Fairley is the Eastern Oregon coordinator for the governor’s ofice of regional solutions, meaning he helps facilitate economic develop- ment projects in the region. Fairley and his ofice have helped with Pendleton projects before, including the city’s efforts to demolish the defunct Blue Mountain Recovery Center and use the bare land for potential industrial use. But Fairley also has been long involved in Pendleton politics, serving on the planning and airport Page 3A 6WDUWLQJDW 5HFOLQHUV *UHJ·V :HHNGD\V 2SHQ6XQ 6OHHS&HQWHU 6RIDV¶Q0RUH 1RUWK+Z\&RWWDJH3OD]D Hermiston police tracked down three suspects Tuesday who are connected to two recent burglaries. Jose Antonio Rosales, 20, of Umatilla, Whitney Shay Sickler, 25, of Herm- iston, and Hector Alejandro Ortiz-Guizar, 28, of Herm- iston, are all in the Umatilla County Jail, Pendleton. Rosales faces initial charges of two counts of identity theft, two counts of credit card fraud, one count of irst-degree burglary, one count of third-degree theft, and possession of metham- phetamine. A Hermiston woman on July 31 told police she was asleep in her residence at 1280 W. Ridgeway Ave., Apt. B when someone entered and took her purse containing credit cards and bank cards. Police did not ind latent ingerprints, according to Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston, but photo- graphed shoe prints outside the window. She then found someone used her bank card at three Hermiston locations — the Wal-Mart Supercenter, a Shell station and McDon- ald’s. Edmiston reported an oficer viewed security video at one establishment and recognized Rosales from a recent trafic stop. Police found Rosales at about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, arrested him on probable cause and took him to the police department for questioning. During the interview, according to the report, he confessed to the burglary and other charges. He also had a glass pipe in his right front pocket with a “burnt/white powdery residue” that he claimed he was holding for a friend. Police put Sickler and Guizar at the scene of a July 24 burglary at a vacant rental home at 265 N.W. Fifth St., Herm- iston. The report states someone entered through an unlocked front window and stole cleaning supplies, tools and a mirror worth a total of $475. Police photographed shoe and tire prints at the scene, and a next-door neighbor told oficers she saw two people about 4 a.m. leave the house. She identiied one as Sickler. Hermiston police even- tually found and arrested Whitney Sickler, 25, at her home at 253 W. Ridgeway Ave., Hermiston, according to the report, and during questioning she identiied Guizar of 260 W. Ridgeway Ave., Apt. B, Hermiston, as the man at the scene with her. Police contacted Guizar, the report states, and he admitted to being inside the residence with Sickler. They face charges of irst-degree burglary and second-degree theft. ——— Contact Phil Wright at pwright@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0833.