83/55
KISSING
KITTIES AT
THE CAPITOL
BEAVERS
LOOK AHEAD
TO 2018
NORTHWEST/2A
SPORTS/1B
State denies
request to
suspend new
dairy REGION/3A
TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2017
141st Year, No. 181
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2016 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
HERMISTON
Wind-blown fi re
destroys duplex
Fireworks blamed for blaze that started in adjacent fi eld
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Firefi ghters attempt to contain a fi re burning in a residence on Northwest 13th
Street after a grass fi re burned into the neighborhood from a fi eld near the
Oxbow Trail on Monday in Hermiston.
A fi re that started in tall grass near the
Oxbow Trail destroyed a duplex at Northwest
13th Street and West Ridgeway Avenue on
Monday afternoon.
Firefi ghters from the Umatilla County
Fire District 1 as well as Pendleton,
Boardman, Umatilla and Echo fi re depart-
ments spent several hours battling the
fl ames and thick smoke, which billowed
over the entire neighborhood.
Police had 35 residents evacuate their
homes as a precaution.
The fi re started a little after 1 p.m. and
spread across about seven acres before
reaching the duplex.
On their Facebook page, UCFD 1 said they
were able to save fi ve homes and 12 apartments
from damage. They said 40 to 50 fi refi ghters
were involved in fi ghting the fl ames in already
See FIRE/9A
Escaped
youth
inmates
still on
the run
Sightings reported
in Milton-Freewater,
Meacham this weekend
La Grande Observer
and East Oregonian
Two escapees from a state
juvenile corrections facility
in La Grande remain at large
and now are suspects in new
crimes. One was spotted in
Meacham and Milton-Free-
water over the weekend.
Brittain
McAuliffe
and Micah West, both 18,
escaped the evening of June
20 from the Camp Riverbend
Youth Transitional Facility,
58231 Highway 244, La
Grande.
Oregon State Police
thought the two might be
in the old Blue Mountain
Lounge building on the south
edge of Meacham. OSP Sgt.
Kyle Hove said law enforce-
ment offi cers surrounded the
building but found nobody
inside.
OSP troopers knew some-
body recently entered the
building because its door was
open after it had been closed
when police had passed by
earlier in the morning, Hove
said.
OSP, with assistance from
the Union County Sheriff’s
See INMATES/9A
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Fire crews in training practice digging a fi re line around a controlled burn during wildland fi refi ghter training Friday at the Northeast
Oregon Fire School east of Meacham.
READY FOR MORE
Seasonal fi refi ghters get hands-on training in the Blue Mountains
“I wouldn’t say we
like the stress and
chaos of it all,
but we defi nitely
thrive in it.”
By GEORGE PLAVEN
East Oregonian
Marching single fi le with
his fi refi ghting crew along
Summit Road in the Blue
Mountains, Nick Boling
could see a plume of white
smoke rise above the pines.
Boling, 28, took note of
the fi re’s behavior as they
drew closer. White smoke
likely meant the blaze was
low intensity, creeping in
grass and fallen branches as
opposed to climbing the tops
of trees. The wind was also
calm, which would prevent
the fl ames from spreading
too quickly.
Of course, the fi re
was nothing more than a
controlled burn, allowing
fi rst-time seasonal fi refi ghters
like Boling to get their feet
wet — so to speak — on a
live blaze. The crew worked
in lockstep swinging their
shovels and pulaskis to build
a fi re line, mimicking what
to do when an actual wildfi re
sparks.
Readiness is key for wild-
land fi refi ghters, and Friday
marked the last day of North-
— Nick Boling,
fi refi ghter trainee at North-
east Oregon Fire School
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
A fi re crew embarks for a training exercise to a controlled burn Friday at the
Northeast Oregon Fire School east of Meacham.
east Oregon Fire School
where about 100 trainees
from multiple agencies got
some much-needed practice
in the Umatilla National
Forest between Pendleton
and La Grande. The timing
was nearly perfect, as
Monday would usher in the
beginning of fi re season for
more than 2 million acres of
forestland within the Oregon
Department of Forestry’s
Northeast Oregon District.
Along with ODF, fi re
school brought together
trainees from the U.S. Forest
Service, Bureau of Land
Management and Bureau of
Indian Affairs. Students spent
much of their week in the
classroom at Eastern Oregon
University, learning about
how fi res react to changes
in conditions and how crews
are organized, before honing
their skills on one of 10
controlled burns ignited by
drip torches.
Joel McCraw, who works
for the Forest Service in
Baker City and helps to coor-
dinate fi re school, said Friday
was like the fi nal exam for
rookies to earn their red
cards and become certifi ed
wildland fi refi ghters.
“This is the fi nal part of
the course for them to get
their certifi cate,” McCraw
said.
Boling, a native of
Columbus, Ohio, is gearing
up for fi re season as a
See TRAINEES/9A