Page 8A
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
FIRE: Smoke may linger for a week
Continued from 1A
was reported seven miles
southeast of Elgin on private
forestland.
Jamie Knight, spokes-
woman with the Oregon
Department of Forestry,
said the Indian Lake fire is
65 percent contained and
burning on a mix of lands
protected by ODF, the
Forest Service and Bureau
of Indian Affairs. It is not
certain whether any struc-
tures were damaged, Knight
said Monday afternoon. No
closures have been issued
for the area.
The Clarks Creek fire,
meanwhile, is now 80
percent contained. Crews
on both fires are working to
strengthen lines and mop up
hot spots, Knight said.
“All in all, things are
looking pretty good,” she
said.
Smoky skies, however,
may linger for another week,
affecting local air quality.
The
National Weather
Service in Pendleton has
issued another air quality
alert through noon Saturday
for Umatilla, Morrow, Grant,
Union, Wallowa, Wheeler,
Gilliam and Sherman coun-
ties.
Meteorologist
Mike
Murphy said a low pressure
system is expected to move
into the area Saturday,
bringing winds out of the
west which will help to clear
out the haze. Thunderstorms
and lighting may also be in
the forecast, which would
likely mean more fires given
how hot and dry the forests
have been.
Matt
Howard,
unit
forester for ODF in Wallowa,
said the formula they use to
determine how ripe condi-
tions are for burning —
known as the energy release
component — is at extreme
levels around the Northeast
Oregon District, thanks to
months of below-average
precipitation and record
heat.
“We have transitioned
quickly, and we are now
in a critical period in our
summer for fire danger,”
Howard said.
Coming off a wet winter
with above-average snow-
pack, Howard said grasses
were growing taller and
thicker than in previous
years heading into spring.
Now, those same grasses are
dry, cured and ready to burn.
With lightning poten-
tially on the horizon,
Howard urged people to
take care when recreating
in the forest to avoid
causing more unnecessary
human fires and straining
WATER:
Everyone needs
to pitch in to
conserve water
Continued from 1A
city parks except Roy Raley,
which needs some extra help
to get back to where it should
be. Water also is on for the
new trees and young arbor-
vitae along Frazer Avenue
around Southwest Ninth
Street.
“Some of them are just
newly planted and need
a lot of water to survive,
especially this time of year,”
he said.
Water also remains on at
city hall and the convention
center, but Cook said he
would turn that off if the
shortage demands because
drinking water matters more
than green grass.
Water at the parks should
be off for a few days. Cook
said if the repairs take longer
and grass starts to turn
brown, the department might
water on a rotation.
The city in a written
statement urged residents
to “minimize all outside
watering as much as
possible.” Patterson said with
two wells down, everyone
needs to pitch in to conserve
water.
Cook said on the upside,
folks might not need to mow
as much.
The city last asked its resi-
dents to cut back on watering
in 2002, according to the
city’s written statement about
the wells. The public’s help
made the difference then,
the city stated, and should
be able to address this water
shortage as well.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Hermiston Mayor Dave Drotzmann walks around one of the livestock barns at
the Umatilla County Fair on Monday in Hermiston.
Photo contributed by InciWeb
The Bear Butte Fire burns Friday near Anthony Lakes
Mountain Resort in the Wallowa-Whitman National
Forest.
ODF identifies firefighter injured in crash
The Oregon Department of Forestry has identified the
seasonal firefighter injured Saturday in a vehicle wreck
on Interstate 84 west of Meacham.
Jesse Boyd, 21, of Heppner, was heading back from
the Indian Lake fire operating a 1,600-gallon water
tender when the truck left the roadway, crossed the
median and came to rest in the eastbound lanes of the
interstate. Why he crashed remains under investigation.
Boyd was flown via air ambulance to a local hospital
where he is being treated for serious injuries. His
condition is listed as stable, according to ODF.
firefighting resources.
“We really don’t want
to be messing with human-
caused fire when we’ve got
lightning like that coming
in,” he said.
Out of 74 total fires
reported this year by the
Blue Mountain Interagency
Dispatch Center, 30 have
been human-caused, burning
1,298 acres.
“They’re taking quite a
few resources to gain the
upper hand on some of these
incidents,” Howard said.
The ODF Northeast
Oregon District is in a regu-
lated use closure, prohib-
iting all open fires except
at designated locations.
Property owners also cannot
use a chainsaw, weld metal
or mow dried grass with
power-driven
equipment
between the hours of 10 a.m.
and 8 p.m. Off-road vehicle
travel is not allowed, and
smoking is prohibited in the
woods except in vehicles,
boats or cleared areas.
Similar restrictions are
also in place on the Umatilla,
Wallowa-Whitman
and
Malheur national forests
under Phase B public use
restrictions. Howard said it
is the public’s responsibility
to know what restrictions are
in place within each jurisdic-
tion before heading out.
A complete list of restric-
tions can be found online
at www.bmidc.org, or by
calling the Blue Mountain
Interagency Dispatch Center
in La Grande at 541-963-
7171
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
FAIR: EOTEC situated on 56 acres
compared to 17.5 at old fairgrounds
Continued from 1A
breeding stock, said she’s
been showing at the fair for
13 years.
“It looks a lot more like
the bigger shows I’ve been
to,” said the Hermiston
High School graduate,
who’s studying agricultural
business and animal science
at Oregon State University.
Betz will show a junior heifer
on Wednesday in the cross-
breeding portion of the fair.
She has always shown beef,
but started out with steers
and slowly added breeding
stock to her repertoire.
There’s more room at
EOTEC, too, with 56 acres
compared to 17.5 at the
old fairgrounds and 81,060
square feet of barn space
compared to 26,187 square
feet at the old fairgrounds.
A group of students
from Echo School’s Future
Farmers of America chapter
said they were looking
forward to some of the
amenities.
“I’m really excited about
the shower situation,” said
Laci Wiggins, who recently
graduated from Echo School
and is showing two breeding
goats and a market hog.
“And the pens are a lot
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Umatilla County Fair Board member Dan Dorran,
right, waits as guests load up on his golf cart as he
guides a tour Monday of the new Umatilla County
Fair Grounds at EOTEC on Monday in Hermiston.
“The old one was outdated.
And here, the beef, goats and sheep
are all under one roof.”
— Brooke VanderVeen, Echo school teacher
nicer.”
Her teacher, Brooke
VanderVeen, said the biggest
difference between this
facility and the previous one
was the layout.
“The old one was
outdated,” she said. “And
here, the beef, goats and
sheep are all under one roof.”
The fair begins Tuesday
at 9 a.m. Tickets are $10
for general admission, and
parking is $5. The money
from parking will go toward
covering fair costs, Smith
said.
–——
Contact
Jayati
Ramakrishnan at 541-564-
4534 or jramakrishnan@
eastoregonian.com.