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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2016)
REGION Wednesday, October 5, 2016 East Oregonian Page 3A HELIX Fire forces family out of home By PHIL WRIGHT East Oregonian Photo courtesy InciWeb Smoke from the Minam Fire rises over a ridge on Friday in the Wallowa ire zone. Prescribed burn breaks containment Minam Fire now at 750 acres East Oregonian Fireighters are working to contain a 750-acre blaze in the Eagle Cap Wilderness that started as a prescribed burn that got out of control. The Minam Fire is burning near Cougar Ridge, about 17 miles west of Joseph. A Type 3 incident management team took over Sunday, including two hot shot crews and two helicopters. Fire managers on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest had intended to do about 2,000 acres of prescribed burning on the east side of Big Sheep Ridge and six miles along the Minam River in order to treat and reduce ire fuels. With cooler weather in the forecast, conditions appeared ideal. But a strong thunderstorm brought higher-than-ex- pected winds late Friday and early Saturday, which fanned the lames outside the planned prescription area. Meteorologists are predicting an increased chance of precipitation over the next few days, which should help slow the spread of the ire. Smoke continues to impact the Wallowa and Grande Ronde valleys, though there are no closures at this time, according to InciWeb. A Helix family escaped their burning home late Monday night. Umatilla County emer- gency dispatchers received a call at 11:46 p.m. about a home on ire at the intersec- tion of Vesper and Cleveland streets. The Helix Rural Fire Protection District arrived with four ireighters and an engine, a tactical tender and a brush rig and found structures alame at 306 Cleveland St. Helix Fire Lt. Kyle Bryant said the ire started in a garage on the home’s south side, spread across a carport and into the home’s attic and south wall. All the occupants — a woman, her boyfriend, three children, and a pet dog — escaped without injury. The home is a total loss, as is one car that burned in the driveway. The East Umatilla County Rural Fire Protec- tion District responded at 11:48 p.m. with three ireighters and a command vehicle. The Athena Volunteer Fire Department arrived with six people and an engine, and Umatilla County sheriff’s deputy John Reitz also responded. He lives in nearby Athena and is chief of the Athena Volunteer Fire Department. Bryant said Reitz hustled a ire hose from an engine to a Staff photo by Phil Wright A ire destroyed a house late Monday in Helix. Staff photo by Phil Wright Helix ireighters spray water on lames under a metal roof that is still smoldering Tuesday morning after a late Monday ire. hydrant a block away to help get water on the blaze. The American Red Cross Cascades Region reported its disaster responders arrived at approximately 1 a.m. Tuesday to help the family with immediate basic needs. Bryant said the ire caused a power line to fall, which prevented close-up HERMISTON BRIEFLY Students dress as dynamic duos as part of homecoming week East Oregonian It’s homecoming week in Hermiston, and school spirit is showing in a variety of ways. After a day at the beach on Monday and dynamic duo day on Tuesday, students will wear tie-dye on Wednesday and have a bonire and tug-of-war at 7 p.m. at the Farm-City Rodeo Arena. Thursday is decade day, with freshmen dressing up in the style of the 1950s, soph- omores donning the duds of the Roaring ’20s, the junior class prognosticating the styles of 3016, seniors going way back to 3,500,000 B.C., and staff pulling out their 1980s attire. The school week ends with toga/spirit day, with students invited to wear sheets or purple and gold, and a ireworks show at halftime of the football game. On Saturday the home- coming dance theme is “A Night at the Museum.” Staff photo by Jade McDowell Hermiston High School senior Jace Munroe, left, and senior Garrett Hall, teamed up as the red and yel- low Power Rangers for “Dynamic Duo Day” during Homecoming week on Tuesday. COUNCIL: Voted 5-3 to approve building a proposed gravel path Continued from 1A she co-owns with her sister, which she said would pay for a “substantial” portion of the repair costs. Despite Quezada’s argu- ments, the council seemed skeptical about the project’s longterm prospects. “I can tell you as a PDC member and a council member, I’m not real interested in investing over $100,000 where there’s no viable plan,” Wood said. Quezada said if they couldn’t secure the city’s help, the family would be forced to demolish the historic building. Mayor Phillip Houk said the Quezadas did have the option of trying to sell old city hall, a route supported by Councilor Tom Young. “The walls are closing in on you,” he said. “The funds aren’t there. You’re in kind of a bad spot. My personal recommendation would be if you have someone who’s interested in buying it, now is the time to sell it.” Council members voted unanimously to delay their decision two weeks, when they meet as the development commission and the council back-to-back, while the “My personal recommendation would be if you have someone who’s interested in buying it, now is the time to sell it.” — Tom Young, Pendleton city councilor family assesses its options and returns with a new plan. In other meeting news, the council also voted 5-3 to build a gravel path from the Southwest 13th Street / Goodwin Lane intersection to the Southwest 12th Street cul-de-sac, at least tempo- defensive work at the home. The line remained connected to a transformer while the loose end arced onto the 4-foot-tall metal fence surrounding the home, turning it into an electrical barrier. Bryant said he could not risk sending ireighters into the yard. Power company workers arrived after about 45 minutes and shut down the line. Fireighters, though, kept lames from spreading to other homes. The ire’s cause remains unknown, but an investigation is underway. ——— Contact Phil Wright at pwright@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0833. rarily replacing the closed 13th Street stairs. Public Works Director Bob Patterson said the materials to build the path would cost an estimated $10,000 while the labor would be handled in-house. The council put plans to demolish the existing staircase on hold so members can talk to Dave Krumbein, an engineer who assessed the staircase before it was closed, about whether the stairs are salvageable. Councilors Neil Brown, McKennon McDonald and Young voted against approval of the path. ——— Contact Antonio Sierra at asierra@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0836. I would like to thank everyone for all of their sympathy and support in my time of need. To all you medical folks who tried to help Sandy, I know you did your best. CTUIR secretary David Close recalled MISSION — On Tuesday, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation voted to recall board secretary David Close. There were 312 votes cast in favor of Close’s recall and 257 opposed, according to a press release from Chuck Sams, CTUIR director of communications. The recall is effective immediately and a special election will be scheduled to ill the vacancy. Until the vacancy is illed, the Board of Trustees will designate a current board member to carry out the duties and responsibilities of the board secretary. Tribal member Terrie Brigham iled a recall petition on May 31 to remove Close from ofice due to four charges: failure to fulill constitution and by laws and oath of ofice, violation of the Board of Trustee’s procedures and policies, elder abuse and abuse of position. The General Council is the CTUIR’s voting membership, age 18 and older. Of the 2,233 CTUIR voters, 569 votes were cast in the Tuesday election, turnout of about 25 percent. Rosselle resigns from Pendleton School Board PENDLETON — Bob Rosselle has resigned from his seat on the Pendleton School Board. Board Chairwoman Debbie McBee said at a meeting Tuesday that Rosselle resigned because of time constraints between his other work, family and community commitments. Rosselle was appointed to the school board in 2009 and was elected to ill the rest of the term in 2011. Rosselle was re-elected to the board in 2013, running unopposed. In addition to serving on the school board, Rosselle has been the president of the Happy Canyon Co. Board of Directors and is a member of the Round-Up Board of Directors. The Pendleton School District will post the vacated position Wednesday and accept applications through Oct. 24. Interviews will be held Oct. 27 and the board will select a candidate at its Nov. 8 meeting. Hermiston police respond to scary clown sighting HERMISTON — A person dressed as a “scary clown” was reported to Hermiston police Monday night, and though oficers weren’t able to locate the costumed person, they did issue a warning on Facebook about appro- priate public behavior. The clown was STUDENT spotted near Wal-Mart headed toward the Aspen Apartments at about 10:30 p.m. wearing dark clothing and bushy hair. There have been many police reports of people dressed as scary clowns across the United States in the past few months, and several in Oregon in recent weeks. Hermiston police in a statement on social media said people have the right to dress however they want — like a clown, ballerina or wearing “that ugly sweater your aunt knitted for your birthday in 1993.” But if those donning strange outits are acting “weird” to intentionally scare people, the department warned it would investigate the suspicious activity to see if a crime was committed. Most of the reports in other areas have been non-criminal, though arrests have been made for trespassing, making threats and inducing panic. ——— Briefs are compiled from staff and wire reports, and press releases. Email press releases to news@ eastoregonian.com Route work pays for my children’s activities. OF THE WEEK Christina “Tina” Combs U KIAH H IGH S CHOOL Ukiah School District recognizes Christina “Tina” Combs as Student of the Week! We enjoy Tina’s enthusiastic approach to any class assignment or extracurricular opportunity. Tina is a senior, involved in Volleyball, Student Technology Association, Robotics, and 4-H, as well as helping her family on their farm. Tina’s hobbies include riding horses, drawing, riding dirt bikes, and hunting. Her latest adventure was attending fire camp with the United States Forest Service. After graduation, Tina plans to attend Blue Mountain Community College for Veterinary Technician study, and perhaps transfer to Oregon State University, majoring in Veterinary Science. Congratulations, Tina! Thanks for being a great all-around student and human being! Proudly Sponsored by Become an East Oregonian Carrier. 211 SE Byers Ave. Pendleton Susan Simpson 333 E Main Hermiston Dawn Hendricks 541-276-2211 1-800-522-0255 John Heaton 2801 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton, OR • 541-276-5121
