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
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East Oregonian
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211 SE Byers Ave.
Pendleton
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Hermiston
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John Heaton
2801 St. Anthony Way, Pendleton, OR • 541-276-5121