REGION
Saturday, May 6, 2017
East Oregonian
Page 3A
Old grain elevator blaze takes Officer HERMISTON
shoots
combined firefighting front
dog during attack
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Firefighters and farmers
joined forces for hours
Thursday to battle in darkness
against a fire at the bottom of
a canyon 16 miles north of
Helix.
Dave Baty, Pendleton fire
captain who was on the scene,
called it a prime example
of why local agencies need
mutual aid agreements.
“It’s rural firefighting,” he
said. “It’s a different animal.”
The Helix and East
Umatilla County rural fire
protection districts at 7:42
p.m. Thursday responded to
84501 Vansycle Road in the
Juniper Canyon area on a
report of a wood chipper fire.
Juan Avila, a firefighter for
the East Umatilla department,
said instead of finding large
equipment burning they
discovered an old wooden
grain elevator ablaze with
workers taking apart the
structure to try to salvage the
wood.
Helix and East Umatilla
each had three-person crews
at the scene, he said, and
soon called out for more
resources. The East Umatilla
County Health District
responded with the Medic
400 ambulance and crew to
help firefighters “rehab” and
keep going.
Baty was the on-duty
supervisor when Pendleton
received the page at 8:47
p.m. to provide aid due to the
fire threatening structures.
He said he grabbed two
firefighters from the aging
station on Southwest Court
Avenue, jumped in an engine
and rushed to the scene.
The road narrowed as they
drew near to the fire, he said,
and they left the engine and
climbed up hill to find the
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
Photo contributed by Jen Davison
Fire departments were called out to a chipper that caught fire on 84501 Vansycle
Road at 7:42 p.m. Thursday at a grain elevator.
action in the canyon below.
He said the flames covered
a chipper and a skidsteer, as
well as an old silo.
Baty also serves as the
chief of the Helix fire district.
About as soon as he got there,
he said, Avila handed him the
command and he did a quick
“360” to survey what they
were up against.
Baty said there were two
objectives — keeping the
fire from reaching a large
wood pile down the draw and
preventing it from burning up
the hills.
Firefighter safety was
a top concern. Aside from
the darkness, the location
had just one road in and out
and is notorious for poor
radio reception. Baty said
firefighters could use radios
to communicate at the scene,
but signals would not carry to
dispatch. For that, Baty said,
Umatilla County sheriff’s
deputy Darren Parson was on
hand to drive to a high point
to relay communications.
Pendleton fire chief Mike
Ciraulo said this is a problem
in some areas if the county.
Emergency radios here rely
on a series of repeaters to
carry signals to and from
each other and dispatch, and
the Juniper Canyon area
lacks that infrastructure.
The federal government is
working on this problem,
he said, but until then first
responders have to use “work
arounds” to communicate,
including using cellphones,
and that can add to dangerous
situations.
Baty said lack of water
was another hurdle. The
nearest hydrants were miles
away in Helix, he said, which
demanded the crews conserve
water and required tenders to
make trips to refill.
Baty also credited farmers
who came out with their
tenders and equipment. They,
along with the mutual aid
agreements, he said, were
crucial to meeting the two
objectives and keeping the
flames within the “fire print.”
Pendleton left the scene
Friday at 3:15 a.m., he said,
but some volunteers stayed all
night to make sure the blaze
did not erupt anew.
State fire marshal Scott
Goff is investigating the
cause. The fire occurred
during an intense lightning
storm over the north part of
Umatilla County. Baty said
the amount of lighting they
saw on the way to the fire was
“astounding.”
Fire reports also came in
Thursday night at 10:37 about
a brush fire along Highway 11
near Athena and at 11:03 for
a tree house on fire at Elliott
Memorial Park, Weston.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.com
or 541-966-0833.
HERMISTON
BRIEFLY
City to amend conference center
agreement with chamber
Will also vote to approve goals for 2017
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
The Hermiston City
Council will vote on an
amendment to its agree-
ment with the Greater
Hermiston Area Chamber
of Commerce on Monday
reflecting planned changes
in management at the Herm-
iston Conference Center.
The chamber has been
running the conference
center under contract with
the city, but in April the city
council voted to have the
city’s parks and recreation
department manage the
center directly starting in
2018.
The chamber’s confer-
ence center coordinator
recently resigned, and the
contract amendments before
the council state that the city
will provide an employee to
fill the position for the rest
of the year in exchange for
the training the chamber will
provide to that employee in
running the center.
SUBMIT
COMMUNITY NEWS
Rental policies, fees
and compensation to the
chamber will stay the same
during the transition period
between now and Jan. 1.
On Monday the council
will also vote on a proposal
to change parking spaces
along Northeast Second
Street between Main Street
and Hurlburt Avenue from
parallel parking to diagonal
parking. On Friday the city
began work on re-striping
parking on Gladys Avenue
from parallel parking to
diagonal.
During the meeting the
council will review and be
asked to approve a report
formally outlining the
goals for 2017 they set at a
goal-setting session earlier
in the year. Those goals
fall under the headings
of increasing livability,
completing the Eastern
Oregon Trade and Event
Center, promoting economic
development and comple-
tion of a comprehensive
capital improvement plan.
Pendleton
police
reported an officer Friday
morning shot a dog after it
attacked him.
Officer Cass Clark
suffered a bite on his elbow
and has a swollen arm, said
Cpl. Nathan Bessette. The
last Bessette heard, the
border collie had survived
the shooting.
Bessette said a delivery
woman at 9:23 a.m. told
police the dog at 1233
Tutuilla Road tried to attack
her. She reported the dog
barked and snarled at her,
and she got back in her
vehicle before it could bite.
Clark took the report,
Bessette said, and talked
to the code enforcement
officer about the dog, Jax,
a black-and-white border
collie mix that weighs about
110 pounds. He found the
police department already
classified the animal as
a “level 4” dangerous
dog. Under city law, that
means the dog, “while at
large, aggressively bites
or causes physical injury
to any person or domestic
animal.”
There is only one classi-
fication higher, and the city
requires euthanization for
those animals.
The city also requires
owners of level 4 dogs to
abide by several regulations,
including warning signs
about the dog and keeping
it in a “secure enclosure
whenever the dog is not on
a leash or inside the home
of the owner.” Bessette said
the dogs also must wear a
bright orange collar to show
they are dangerous.
When Clark arrived at
the home he found the dog
resting in the gravel and on
a long leash. Bessette said
that was not in accordance
with the dog’s classifica-
tion.
Clark spoke with the
owner Angela Myers, who
placed the dog inside. She
told police the dog outgrew
the collar, Bessette said,
but the city would have
provided a larger one.
Clark returned to his
police car, filled out a
citation and walked back
to the front of the building.
Bessette said the dog
bolted out a glass door and
launched at Clark, who
lifted an arm in defense.
The dog latched on,
Bessette said, causing a
half-inch cut and puncture
wounds in the officer’s
elbow. Clark fought back
and pushed the dog off.
The dog came again and
bit Clark’s left leg, Bessette
said, and the officer took
out his handgun and shot
the dog once in the chest.
The dog retreated behind
the building.
Bessette said Clark
received medical treatment,
including some shots, but
was “stubborn” and worked
the rest of the day with a
swollen arm.
Myers took Jax to a local
veterinary clinic, Bessette
said, and while he last heard
the dog was alive he did not
know its condition.
If the dog lives, it
faces euthanization. That
determination resides with
Pendleton police chief
Stuart Roberts, who will
review the case.
———
Contact Phil Wright at
pwright@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0833.
The council will also
consider a facade grant
to the LuAnn Davidson
State Farm building at 125
Hurlburt Avenue and will
convene to an executive
session to discuss nego-
tiations for real property
transaction.
At 6 p.m. before its
regular meeting, the council
will hold a work session
about staff organization.
Assistant city manager
Mark Morgan said in the
three years city manager
Byron Smith has been
working for the city, some
duties have slowly shifted
from where they were
under former city manager
Ed Brookshier, creating
confusion over whether
people should report certain
things to Morgan, Smith or
a department head. He said
the work session will be
to discuss formalizing and
clarifying those staff roles
and who reports to them.
———
Contact Jade McDowell
at jmcdowell@eastorego-
nian.com or 541-564-4536.
Arts Festival
postponed
HERMISTON — Due
to an earlier deadline for the
Lifestyles section, Saturday’s
Entertainment page calendar
(3C) lists the Eastern Oregon
Arts Festival as occurring
Saturday, May 13.
Friday morning, the East
Oregonian received a reply
to correspondence to obtain
more information about the
festival, which is presented
by the Desert Arts Council.
Larry Fetter, Hermiston
Parks & Recreation
director, said that the
festival had been postponed.
He said a juried art show is
being organized as part of
Hermiston Funfest.
For more information
about the Desert Arts
Council, contact 541-667-
5018 or parksandrec@
hermiston.or.us.
The 22nd CBRN
battalion, along with troops
from Germany will be
executing a counter-WMD
mission at the Umatilla
Army Depot, with simu-
lation exercises for how to
decontaminate an area that
might contain weapons of
mass destruction.
In all, 1,800 troops
are expected to be on the
grounds this weekend.
Walden plans
three town halls
Rep. Greg Walden,
fresh off the passage of a
Republican bill to repeal
and replace the Affordable
Care Act through the
House, will host a trio
of town halls Monday in
Eastern Oregon.
Walden, who has
represented Oregon’s
second district since 1999,
is the chair of the House
Energy Committee that
helped craft the bill and
he voted in favor of its
passage. His last town halls
in Eastern Oregon were on
February 10 in Boardman
and Weston as an earlier
version of the bill was being
drafted.
The first town hall is
at Baker High School at
9:30 a.m., followed by a
meeting at Stella Mayfield
Elementary School in Elgin
at 12:15 p.m. and finishing
at Wallowa Elementary
School at 2:30 p.m.
Those who cannot attend
the meetings but would
still like to ask questions or
provide input are encour-
aged to visit www.walden.
house.gov.
Training exercise
at Umatilla Depot
HERMISTON —
Troops from around the
United States and Germany
will be at the Umatilla
Army Depot from Saturday
to Tuesday for training,
including some exercises
that are new to the troops.
M AY D I S N E Y D AY S AT A A A
Mother’s Day
Prime
Rib
Buffet
Sunday, May 14 10am - 2pm
Featuring
Submit information to:
community@eastorego-
nian.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.
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