REGION
Friday, August 12, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Gibbon Fire grows after burnout
Durkee Complex
Fire 75 percent
contained
East Oregonian
The
lightning-sparked
Gibbon Fire continues to
grow in the Blue Mountains
east of Pendleton, though
that’s due in part to burnout
operations meant to give
ireighters room to operate.
The blaze is now 266
acres and 30 percent
contained. It is burning in
steep and rugged terrain
near Meacham Creek and
Stumbough Ridge, spread
between the Umatilla Indian
Reservation and Umatilla
National Forest. Crews are
conducting back burns to
draw the ire into areas where
crews can remain safe on the
ground.
There are now 60
personnel assigned to the
ire, including two hand
crews, four engines and one
helicopter. Warmer, drier
weather is in the forecast,
which could lend to more
active ire behavior through
the weekend. Dry thunder-
storms are also possible for
Sunday.
In other ire updates:
• Juntura Complex —
Three ires make up the
Juntura Complex between
Vale and Burns, all of
Contributed photo
Oficials cut the ribbon on a new electric vehicle
charging station in Condon. From left: Mayor Jim
Hassing; CBEC Board Secretary Roy Carlson; CBEC
Assistant Operations Manager Josh Coiner; CBEC
Staff Accountant Debbie Lankford; Gilliam Coun-
ty Judge Steve Shaffer; and K’Lynn Lane with the
Condon Chamber of Commerce.
Electric cars get
jolt in rural Oregon
Contributed photo
Fireighters work to contain the Gibbon Fire in the Blue Mountains east of Pendleton.
which are showing higher
levels of containment. The
Simmons Gulch Fire, which
has reached 11,362 acres,
is 70 percent contained; the
Sheep Rock Fire, at 12,783
acres is 60 percent contained;
and the Rooster Comb Fire,
at 156 acres, is 95 percent
contained. Lightning started
the complex on Aug. 7.
Crews are working to mop
up hot spots, and will slowly
be peeled off the line as
containment is achieved.
• Rail Fire — At last
count, the Rail Fire near
Unity remains at 11,503
acres and 10 percent contain-
ment. More than 700 people
are battling the ire, burning
in a mix of timber and grass-
lands. The cause has not been
determined.
• Durkee Complex —
Several ires were touched off
by lighting in Baker County
west of Durkee near Interstate
84. The blazes are 75 percent
contained after spreading
over 850 acres. A Type 3
ireighting team is expected
to transition management
back to the Bureau of Land
Management’s Vale District
on Friday, and redeploy to
the Juntura Complex by
Saturday.
For more information on
local ires, visit www.blue-
mountainfireinfo.blogsport.
com. To report a ire, call the
Blue Mountain Interagency
Dispatch Center at 541-963-
7171 or dial 9-1-1.
HERMISTON
Homebuilding program lands students jobs
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Real-world
experience
is already translating into
real-world jobs for teenagers
involved in the Columbia
Basin Student Homebuilding
Program.
High school students in
the program, which is about
to enter its third year, spend
the school year constructing
a state-of-the-art home under
the supervision of mentors
from
the
construction
industry. So far at least six
students have been hired by
industry partners impressed
by their work.
Chad Poznanski of CAP
Construction said over the
course of his time as a mentor
for the program he has hired
three different students,
including Umatilla High
School junior Luis Vallejo,
who currently works for him
doing painting and other
inishing work.
“I was impressed with
what they comprehended and
their work ethic,” Poznanski
said. “They wanted to be out
there.”
He said he would love to
see the program extended
through a partnership with
Blue Mountain Community
College for higher education
students, because good help is
hard to ind and Hermiston’s
growth is pushing a demand
for contractors.
The high school program,
he said, is a great way for
students to get some early
experience with construction
work and see if there was a
particular aspect they wanted
to pursue.
“If that was the path they
wanted to take, I think this is
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Carlos Hernandez gets ready to clean up tools from
a restoration project by O So Kleen, where he was
hired for a summer job after catching the eye of
owner Dave Smith during the Columbia Basin Student
Homebuilding Project.
one of the best programs you
can have,” he said.
Randy Multon of Mr.
Insulation said Cody Boggs
worked with one of his
employees on the irst
student-built home in 2014-
2015 and afterward that
employee recommended him
to Multon for an open posi-
tion at the company. Boggs,
who graduated in 2015, has
worked for Mr. Insulation for
about a year.
“Now he’s doing jobs by
himself,” Multon said.
He said he is always
grateful to ind someone
interested in installing insula-
tion, because it’s a job a lot of
people won’t do because the
insulation irritates their skin
too much.
Carlos Hernandez, who
will return to the student
homebuilding program as a
high school senior this fall,
lucked into a summer job
with O So Kleen through
his involvement with the
program.
O So Kleen, which repairs
smoke and water damage in
addition to cleaning, isn’t an
oficial industry partner with
the homebuilding program,
but owner Dave Smith is
on the school board and got
to know Hernandez while
interacting with the home-
builders in that capacity.
He was impressed with the
young man’s detail-oriented
approach to trim work on
the student-built home and
offered him a job doing home
restoration work all summer,
including
trim
around
windows and doors.
Hernandez said that type
of cosmetic work was his
favorite part of building a
home.
“It’s what people see when
they walk in the house,” he
said.
He said O So Kleen was
a fun summer job, and he
enjoyed the chance to try
working without a teacher
FIRST FOODS
Festival & Race
Saturday, Aug 13th
July Grounds- 73310 July Grounds Lane, Pednleton, Or 97801
RACE AND EVENT TIMES
• 7:10 AM- Kanine Ridge Hike Departs July Grounds
• 9:00 AM- 10k Spawn Run • 9:30 AM- 5k Smolt Run
• 10:30 AM- Family Fun Walk & Cycle (Noncompetitive)
JACKETS AND MEDALS FOR 1ST - 3RD PLACE FOR HIKE, 10K & 5K RACE EVENTS.
2ND ANNUAL CHUMASH LACROSSE TOURNAMENT:
8:00 - 2:30
or mentor constantly looking
over his shoulder.
“It’s a great opportunity to
take what I’ve been learning
and put it to work,” he said.
Smith said he was
impressed with the quality
of Hernandez’s work as he
watched him work on the
student-built home.
“I saw Carlos’s enthu-
siasm, and I had some work
to do this summer,” Smith
said. “I saw his skill level and
motivation. He’s enthusiastic
and very safety-conscious.”
Jason Knutz of Inland
Plumbing hired Drex Bailey
after he graduated from high
school, and Bailey recently
got accepted as a plumbing
apprentice. Knutz said he
enjoyed being an industry
partner for the program and
working with students like
Bailey who are “eager to
learn.”
“I have no doubt the expe-
rience was good for him,” he
said.
Curt Berger, who runs
the program for Hermiston
School District, said he
always impresses upon the
students that their work in
the homebuilding class is
being observed by more than
20 local employers over the
course of the year.
“I tell them, ‘We’re on a
job interview every day out
there,’” he said. “The person
watching you could hire you
next summer.”
Students from Hermiston,
Umatilla and Stanield will be
building a third home in the
Fieldstone subdivision during
the upcoming school year.
———
Contact Jade McDowell at
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4536.
Charging stations
built in four cities
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
It takes a lot of miles
behind the wheel to reach
some of Eastern Oregon’s
most breathtaking sights,
like the John Day Fossil
Beds or Journey Through
Time Scenic Byway.
That can be a problem
for drivers of electric cars,
who risk being stranded
if there isn’t a charging
station available for long
trips. The phenomenon,
known as range anxiety,
might discourage some
travelers from hitting the
road to explore remote
destinations across the
state.
In order to draw more
visitors to the area and
overcome that anxiety,
the
Columbia
Basin
Electric Cooperative has
installed four new electric
vehicle charging stations
in Heppner, Ione, Condon
and Fossil. Each station is
capable of charging two
vehicles at a time, and is
located close to shops and
services in town.
“So far, we’ve had a
lot of really good support
from all the communities,”
said Debbie Lankford,
staff accountant with the
co-op. “They’ve been very
excited about it.”
Lankford said the co-op
board was interested in
doing a renewable ener-
gy-based project earlier
this year, and voted to
invest in electric charging
stations in May. The total
project came in at $56,074,
though
they
secured
more than $16,000 in tax
credits from the Oregon
Department of Energy and
another $10,000 in cash
and in-kind contributions
from local chambers, city
councils and county courts.
That brought the cost
down to $7,410 per unit.
Stations will be serviced
through
a
ive-year
contract with Charge
Point, a vendor based in
Portland.
“Our motivation was
to be kind of a pioneer for
this,” Lankford said.
Stations are located in
Ione near the city park;
in Heppner at the library
on North Main Street; in
Condon outside the co-op
ofices on South Main
Street; and in Fossil near
the Wheeler County Fair-
grounds. Public charging
stations can also be found
in Arlington, Mitchell,
Dayville, John Day and
Prairie City, according to
PlugShare.
The
chargers
will
be promoted by Travel
Oregon and Drive Oregon,
Lankford added.
“It is our hope that
by installing these four
stations, we will help
in some way with the
connectivity of the east
side of the state for electric
car owners,” the co-op
recently announced. “It
will
provide
another
location for them to charge
while heading east.”
———
Contact George Plaven
at
gplaven@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-966-
0825.
SUBMIT COMMUNITY NEWS
Submit information to: community@eastoregonian.
com or drop off to the attention of Tammy Malgesini at
333 E. Main St., Hermiston or Renee Struthers at 211
S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton. Call 541-564-4539 or 541-
966-0818 with questions.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!
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
TM
PENDLETON ROUND-UP
NATIONAL ANTHEM TRYOUTS
Auditions to sing the National Anthem for the 2016 Pendleton Round
Up will be held on August 15th at 6pm in front of the North
Grandstands. Please arrive early to sign in and be prepared to sing
the National Anthem. Full information on the selection process will be
available at the audition. You will be considered for both the PBR
and the Pendleton Round Up events.
For more information call 541-276-2553
or stop by the Round-Up & Happy Canyon
Office in the Hall of Fame Bldg.
1114 SW Court, Pendleton, OR
