REGION
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
PENDLETON
East Oregonian
Page 3A
PILOT ROCK
Morning ire destroys house
Lone resident escapes
out window uninjured
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by Phil Wright
Sherri Brown and her daughter, Ashley Brown, both
of Pendleton, discuss mystery authors while shop-
ping Saturday in Pendleton at the city library’s an-
nual book sale.
Bibliophiles turn
out for book sale
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
More books than ever
covered the tables at this
weekend’s
Pendleton
Friends Of The Library
book sale.
Volunteers for the
nonproit organization said
they never saw as many
books at the annual sale,
which began 36 years ago
to beneit the Pendleton
Public Library. Saturday,
the second and last day of
the sale, still saw layers
and lines of books on more
than a hundred tables at the
main hall in the Pendleton
Convention Center.
Nancy Kerns, attorney
for the city of Pendleton,
hefted half a dozen books
while scouring for more.
She comes to the event
year after year.
“I always ind some-
thing I need and know I
can’t live without,” she
said.
Online book seller
Marie
Moreken
of
Klamath Falls said the
Pendleton sale was her
third in as many days.
She was illing a shopping
cart after picking up 67
books Thursday in Stayton
and another 67 Friday in
Keizer.
Moreken
used
a
barcode scanner and
smartphone app to ind
out the value of books and
how likely they are to sell
via the internet retail giant
Amazon.com. Hardback
books Saturday morning
at the Pendleton Friends’
sale were going for $1.50
each, and Moreken found
some she would be able to
sell online for about $16.
Amazon, she said, takes at
least a third of that.
Still, she said, the work
allowed her to quit a phar-
macy job.
Most buyers were at the
sale just looking for good
reads, like Sherri Brown of
Pendleton.
“I come almost every
year,” she said. “I just love
to read hardbacks.”
Her daughter, Ashley
Brown, was with her and
looking for science iction
for her iancée, who’s
moving up from California
and bringing loads of
books. She said she loves
the look of books lining
walls to bring a home to
life.
Last year the sale
brought in about $12,000,
a drop from $13,500 in
2014. The decline may
have been due to the theft
of hundreds of books.
Volunteers said Friday
sales seemed good, but
igures were not available
at the time.
They’ve served our country with
courage and honor. They’ve left
behind loved ones to risk their lives
in protecting their country. They’ve
defended our freedoms and ideals.
They make us proud to be
Americans.
Join us for Veterans Day
Wednesday, November 9 in the
Hermiston Herald and Friday,
November 11 in the East Oregonian,
as we honor the men and women of
the U.S. Military. Their courage,
hard work and sacrifice are the
backbone of our nation, protecting
freedom, liberty, justice and all we
hold dear.
Fire consumed a small, one-story
house Monday morning at 454 S.W.
Birch Place in Pilot Rock, forcing
the lone resident to escape out a back
window.
Jeremy Bergstad, 36, said he’s been
living at the home for about seven
months. He is unsure how exactly the
ire got started, but thinks it had some-
thing to do with the propane lantern he
uses for heat.
Once he noticed the smoke,
Bergstad said it was too late.
“I heard stuff popping, cracking and
burning. It spread real fast,” Bergstad
said as he stood outside, watching
smoke pour from the structure. “I
started panicking.”
Bergstad was unable to get out the
front door, so he said he broke out
through a back window. The house
was quickly destroyed, along with
Bergstad’s cellphone, tools, medica-
tion, bicycle and other possessions.
“Everything I own is in there,” he
said. “It’s gone now.”
Bergstad was not seriously injured.
Neighbor Jacob Hoffman was the one
who called 9-1-1 after he heard loud
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pilot Rock and Pendleton ireighters work to extinguish a ire at a resi-
dence Monday on Southwest Birch Street in Pilot Rock.
popping noises and noticed lames
shooting out of the roof next door.
“It just grew and grew and grew
from there,” Hoffman said.
Fireighters from Pilot Rock and
Pendleton were dispatched at 11:45
a.m. to ind the house engulfed in
lames. Pendleton Fire Chief Mike
Ciraulo said a deputy state ire marshal
will be called in to investigate the
cause of the blaze.
Ciraulo commended the Pilot Rock
volunteer ireighters, who not only
had to attack the ire but also deal with
a downed power line.
“It was a very dangerous situation
in the early stages,” Ciraulo said.
Pilot Rock Police Chief Bill Caldera
said brought Bergstad into Pendleton
and got him in touch with the Amer-
ican Red Cross for aid.
———
Contact George Plaven at gplaven@
eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0825.
BRIEFLY
Sales vendor
falsely representing
school district
HERMISTON —
Hermiston School District
is warning that a company
selling advertisements on
sports posters in not afiliated
with the district.
According to a news
release from the district,
a salesman contacting
local businesses about
buying advertising is
falsely claiming to be a
representative of Hermiston
High School. However, he is
not connected to the school
district and no money from
the advertising will beneit
Hermiston students or sports
teams.
Ad sales for the 2016-
2017 Hermiston High School
sports calendar has already
been completed, and any
requests for future advertising
or sponsorship will come
from athletics director Larry
Usher or athletics secretary
Lindy Thompson.
Corps award
contract for repairs
to McNary Dam
The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers has awarded
a $505,000 grant to Marine
Industrial Construction, of
Wilsonville, to make several
repairs to the downstream
gate at the McNary Dam
navigation lock.
The lock went into
service in 1953, and some
of the components being
replaced are more than 60
years old. The lock chamber
is 86 feet wide by 675 feet
long, with a normal oper-
ating lift of about 75 feet.
The project will coincide
with an extended lock outage
for Columbia and Snake
river dams, running 14
weeks from Dec. 12 through
March 20, 2017. Closures are
being coordinated between
the Army Corps’ Portland
and Walla Walla districts to
accomplish much-needed
repairs, while minimizing
impact on river users.
For more information,
visit www.nww.usace.army.
mil.
Th ank you for another great season!
Join us weekends
in October
to view the fall colors and
enjoy the crisp fall air
SEE YOU AGAIN 2017 SEASON: MAY 20 thru
OCTOBER • 5 DAYS A WEEK
NEXT YEAR
Pedal through the beautiful Wallowa Valley
Book now at www.jbrailriders.com
E-mail jbrailriders@gmail.com
30 Year Ann ivers ary
PRICES
1x4 - $ 40.00
2x3 - $ 55.00
Full Color
Included
Private Party Only
Community and Customer
Appreciation Event
WEDNESDAY
OCTOBER 12TH
3:00PM - 6:00PM
80496 Highway 395 N, Hermiston
(Behind Oxarc, under the large American fl ag)
Bring in a photo and message to
211 SE Byers Ave, Pendleton or 333
E Main, Hermiston; or email to
classifieds@eastoregonian.com.
DEADLINE
Thursday, November 3 rd
1x4 EXAMPLE
For more information call the East
Oregonian at 1-800-962-2819 or the
Hermiston Herald at 541-564-4530.
2x3 EXAMPLE
We are so
proud of you
for serving
your country.
Love Evelyn,
Joe and Cheryl
J OSEPH B. D AVIS
J OSEPH S MITH
Thank you for
your service!
OPEN HOUSE
Love always
Marcy, Julie &
Emily
• Tours and Food provided
• Kids games • Lots of giveaways
• Raffl e prizes: Fire Pit and a Weekend Getaway