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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 2017)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Wednesday, September 13, 2017 Task force returns from Eagle Creek fire Local firefighters help protect homes By GEORGE PLAVEN East Oregonian After nine grueling days working to protect homes from the massive Eagle Creek fire in the Columbia River Gorge west of Hood River, local firefighters returned home Tuesday afternoon, exhausted but unscathed. The blaze, which has grown to nearly 35,600 acres, started Saturday, Sept. 2 and is now 11 percent contained. It is one of 113 large wildfires burning in Oregon and Washington, totaling more than 1 million acres. With so many fires straining resources around the region, the Oregon State Fire Marshal has called upon county crews to help fight the flames and keep communities safe. On Monday, Sept. 4, a task force from Umatilla, Morrow and Union counties was deployed to Cascade Locks, where the Eagle Creek fire was creeping uncomfortably close to town. No sooner did they arrive than the inferno made its first big run, fanned by strong winds that pushed the fire 14 miles west to Corbett in a matter of hours. Casey Zellars, lieutenant with — Casey Zellars, lieutenant with the Boardman Rural Fire Protection District Genna Martin/seattlepi.com via AP Fire crews work to protect Multnomah Falls and the Multnomah Falls Lodge, which was built in 1925, from the Eagle Creek Fire, Sept 6, near Troutdale. The lodge sur- vived the worst of the fire, but hot spots continue to burn and trees continue to fall from the hills nearby. the Boardman Rural Fire Protection District and task force leader, said the scene early on was utter chaos. “Everything was progressing really fast,” Zellars said. “We were a little sleep deprived.” As task force leader, it was Zellars’ job to oversee a team of 16 personnel, four fire engines and one water tender, while also reporting to incident commanders to make sure tactical objectives were being met. Resources were pulled together from Boardman as well as Umatilla County Fire District in Hermiston, Umatilla Rural Fire Protec- tion District and La Grande Rural Fire District. Their job, Zellars said, was structure protection — specifically, helping resi- dents to create a buffer space around their homes in case the fire approached. “We did a lot of assessing homes to see if we could make them more defen- sible,” he said. Zellars estimates the task force assisted in safe- guarding 250 homes from Corbett to west of Hood River, doing things like cleaning gutters, trimming trees, removing propane tanks from near houses and setting sprinklers. “We just have to think outside the box a little bit about what our game plan is going to be, because things can change in an instant,” Zellars said. Jesse Brown, a firefighter and medic with Umatilla County Fire District, said the team was put to the challenge right off the bat. At about 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 5, they were roused from their sleep and alerted that the blaze was on the move, forcing them to scramble to get ahead of the situation. The Eagle Creek fire has destroyed four houses in the Gorge as of Saturday, according to reports. Witnesses say the fire was started by a group of teen- agers lighting and tossing fireworks into Eagle Creek Canyon, though no charges have been filed and the offi- cial cause of the fire is listed as “unknown.” Brown said the task force had to work quickly to orient themselves with the land- scape and fuel types, which differ widely from Eastern Oregon. “Not knowing the area and not knowing what we were heading into, we weren’t sure what we could expect,” Brown said. “We For $500, state gives voter list to fraud commission SALEM (AP) — Oregon officials have handed over a statewide list of voters to President Donald Trump’s commission investigating allegations of voter fraud, for a $500 fee. Made available were names, addresses, registration dates and status, birth year, precinct name and political party affiliation. But infor- mation that was not disclosed included Social Security and driver’s license numbers or how a person voted. Oregon Secretary of State Dennis Richardson’s office said in a statement Friday that Oregon law requires disclosure of the list to anyone paying the $500, as long as it’s not for commercial purposes. Oregon policy also prohibits disclosure of the information that was withheld, the office noted. Richardson has already told commission vice chairman and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach that there is “very little evidence” of voter fraud or registration fraud in Oregon. Kobach and the commis- sion on Tuesday visited New Hampshire, where he said he’s no longer certain that fraudu- lent out-of-state voters led to a Democrat’s victory in a U.S. Senate race in New Hamp- shire. Kobach acknowledged PENDLETON Suspects from car crash face charges that New Hampshire allows college students and others to vote in the state without getting driver’s licenses if they consider the state their home. Two members of Oregon’s congressional delegation and Gov. Kate Brown had urged Richardson, a Republican in Democratic-leaning Oregon, to refuse the request that went to secretaries of state around the country earlier this year. Trump, who lost the popular vote in the 2016 presidential election, created the commission through an executive order in May. He has said voter fraud existed in the election that he won by Electoral College votes. PENDLETON — The two men Pendleton police arrested Monday evening after their car crashed on railroad tracks faced charges Tuesday. Joseph Higheagle Jr., and Delbert Edwin Ferraris, both 30 and Pendleton residents, had arraignments Tuesday in Umatilla County Circuit Court, Pendleton. Court records show they appeared in court via video from the county jail. Higheagle faces charges of first- and second-degree criminal trespassing for being on Union Pacific Railroad Co. property and trying to hide from police on private property at 515 S.E. Fourth St. Ferraris also appeared in jail via video 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays SUBSCRIPTION RATES Local home delivery Savings off cover price EZPay $14.50 41 percent 52 weeks $173.67 41 percent 26 weeks $91.86 38 percent 13 weeks $47.77 36 percent *EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge www.eastoregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to www.eastoregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and Dec. 25, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Classified & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com ADVERTISING Advertising Director: Marissa Williams 541-278-2669 • addirector@eastoregonian.com Advertising Services: Laura Jensen 541-966-0806 • ljensen@eastoregonian.com Multimedia Consultants: • Kimberly Macias 541-278-2683 • kmacias@eastoregonian.com • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com • Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com Didn’t receive your paper? Call 1-800-522-0255 before noon Tuesday through Friday or before 10 a.m. Saturday for same-day redelivery — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: • call 541-966-0818 • fax 541-276-8314 • email news@eastoregonian.com • To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News: email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at 541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers at 541-966-0818. • To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit www.eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit a Letter to the Editor: mail to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com. • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com Copyright © 2017, EO Media Group REGIONAL CITIES Forecast THURSDAY Cooler with periods of sun Partly sunny 76° 49° 70° 46° FRIDAY SATURDAY Partly sunny Pleasant with some sun PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 69° 43° 71° 48° 76° 51° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 74° 47° 78° 46° PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH LOW 92° 79° 95° (1892) 53° 51° 25° (1921) PRECIPITATION 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 0.00" Trace 0.18" 11.37" 7.69" 8.56" HERMISTON through 3 p.m. yesterday TEMPERATURE HIGH Yesterday Normals Records LOW 92° 80° 96° (1953) 48° 49° 31° (2014) PRECIPITATION 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date 0.00" 0.00" 0.14" 6.65" 5.40" 6.26" SUN AND MOON Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today New First Sep 19 Sep 27 Full Oct 5 74° 44° 75° 50° Seattle 69/52 ALMANAC Yesterday Normals Records 73° 42° 6:31 a.m. 7:10 p.m. none 2:44 p.m. Last Oct 12 Today SUNDAY Beautiful with clouds and sun Spokane Wenatchee 73/47 75/51 Tacoma Moses 70/44 Lake Pullman Aberdeen Olympia Yakima 76/51 71/43 67/48 71/43 79/47 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 70/47 76/54 Lewiston 78/47 Astoria 77/51 67/48 Portland Enterprise Hermiston 72/53 Pendleton 77/41 The Dalles 78/46 76/49 76/51 La Grande Salem 76/43 74/49 Albany Corvallis 75/47 76/46 John Day 81/47 Ontario Eugene Bend 89/55 74/46 77/41 Caldwell Burns 87/54 84/41 Astoria Baker City Bend Brookings Burns Enterprise Eugene Heppner Hermiston John Day Klamath Falls La Grande Meacham Medford Newport North Bend Ontario Pasco Pendleton Portland Redmond Salem Spokane Ukiah Vancouver Walla Walla Yakima Hi 67 81 77 69 84 77 74 75 78 81 83 76 73 83 63 65 89 79 76 72 80 74 73 75 72 76 79 Lo 48 43 41 53 41 41 46 48 46 47 43 43 39 50 47 50 55 47 49 53 38 49 47 39 49 54 47 W pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Thu. Hi 71 65 64 68 62 60 72 68 74 65 68 64 63 74 64 65 70 74 70 75 67 75 67 60 74 70 75 Lo 46 35 38 52 30 39 44 45 47 41 36 38 37 45 47 47 49 45 46 51 34 47 46 37 47 49 44 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. W pc sh pc pc pc c pc pc pc pc s pc pc s pc pc pc pc pc pc pc pc c pc pc pc pc WORLD CITIES Today Beijing Hong Kong Jerusalem London Mexico City Moscow Paris Rome Seoul Sydney Tokyo Hi 86 93 91 63 74 74 65 78 78 89 84 Lo 65 82 69 47 55 53 51 61 57 52 71 W pc t s pc pc t r s s s pc Thu. Hi 86 91 86 62 70 61 61 77 81 64 82 Lo 64 79 69 46 53 56 48 65 61 52 67 W pc pc s sh pc sh sh pc s s pc WINDS Medford 83/50 (in mph) Klamath Falls 83/43 Boardman Pendleton REGIONAL FORECAST Coastal Oregon: Times of clouds and sun today. Partly cloudy tonight. Eastern and Central Oregon: Clouds and sun today; cooler across the north and near the Cascades. Western Washington: Clouds and sunshine today. Partly cloudy tonight. Times of clouds and sun tomorrow. Eastern Washington: Times of clouds and sun today; smoky in the north and toward the Cascades. Cascades: Not as warm today with times of clouds and sun. Partly cloudy tonight. Northern California: Clouds and sun today; a thunderstorm in spots in the interior mountains. Today Thursday WSW 6-12 W 7-14 NNE 6-12 WNW 6-12 UV INDEX TODAY Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. 1 and faces the following charges: felony and misdemeanor attempting to elude a police officer; driving under the influence of intoxicants (alcohol); recklessly endangering another person; reckless driving; and driving while suspended or revoked. Pendleton Police Chief Stuart Roberts reported the two were in a car that fled an officer, then crashed moments later on railroad tracks near Southeast Fourth Street. The pair remain in the Pendleton jail, although the court approved a conditional release for Higheagle and set bail for Ferraris at $40,000. Editor’s note: The story on the crash and arrest that appeared in Tuesday’s paper misspelled Ferraris’ last name. The East Oregonian regrets the error. East Oregonian Subscriber services: For home delivery, vacation stops or delivery concerns: 1-800-522-0255 TODAY were playing catchup the first day and a half, trying to get ahead of the fire. Then it was kind of playing on our terms.” By removing woody debris and fire fuels from around homes in the area, Brown said it gave them the best chance to weather the potential firestorm. Working together with task forces from Clackamas, Polk and Marion counties, the local crews were able to assess the entire area west of Hood River. In return, Zellars said the community of Corbett banded together to make sure the firefighters were well fed and taken care of. “They fed us breakfast and dinner every night,” Zellars said. “Just the support out of the Corbett community, I’ve never seen anything like that. It was just overwhelming.” The task force was released Tuesday morning, and are set to return to work at their home stations. Zellars said they are tired, but otherwise safe and sound. “Nine days of sleeping on the ground is enough,” he said with a laugh. “But we’re in good spirits. Our whole task force works well together.” ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0825. “Everything was progress- ing really fast. We were a little sleep deprived.” 3 4 4 2 1 8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m. 0-2, Low 3-5, Moderate 6-7, High; 8-10, Very High; 11+, Extreme The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num- ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2017 -10s -0s showers t-storms 0s 10s rain 20s flurries 30s 40s snow ice 50s 60s cold front 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low National Summary: Spotty rain from Irma will extend from the Mississippi Valley to the mid-Atlantic today. Steamy air will settle over the Southeast. Spotty storms will extend from Northern California to the Intermountain West. Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 110° in Needles, Calif. Low 32° in Bodie State Park, Calif. NATIONAL CITIES Today Albuquerque Atlanta Atlantic City Baltimore Billings Birmingham Boise Boston Charleston, SC Charleston, WV Chicago Cleveland Dallas Denver Detroit El Paso Fairbanks Fargo Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Jacksonville Kansas City Las Vegas Little Rock Los Angeles Hi 91 75 77 79 81 70 87 81 86 79 73 80 92 90 75 98 62 93 86 91 67 87 85 98 79 78 Lo 64 62 69 64 51 61 57 66 70 59 58 61 68 59 60 74 44 63 71 71 58 70 62 71 61 63 W pc pc pc pc pc c pc pc pc c pc c s pc sh s c pc pc pc r pc pc pc pc pc Thur. Hi 86 80 79 79 58 82 73 82 86 70 79 73 96 86 75 96 62 81 87 92 75 87 87 89 87 74 Lo 60 65 67 61 42 65 48 65 68 57 61 59 74 55 59 71 42 58 75 71 58 72 65 68 66 64 W pc s t t r s pc pc pc c pc sh s pc pc s c pc pc s pc pc s pc s pc Today Hi Louisville 65 Memphis 73 Miami 90 Milwaukee 75 Minneapolis 88 Nashville 64 New Orleans 86 New York City 79 Oklahoma City 87 Omaha 90 Philadelphia 78 Phoenix 107 Portland, ME 80 Providence 84 Raleigh 83 Rapid City 93 Reno 85 Sacramento 82 St. Louis 74 Salt Lake City 88 San Diego 76 San Francisco 75 Seattle 69 Tucson 101 Washington, DC 82 Wichita 91 Lo 60 65 79 57 67 60 68 68 60 66 68 82 57 65 66 58 56 60 60 66 67 61 52 75 69 63 W r r pc pc s r s pc s s sh s s pc pc pc pc pc c pc pc pc pc s pc s Thur. Hi 77 85 90 75 89 79 87 78 92 90 81 99 80 83 83 81 80 79 86 80 75 72 72 97 80 94 Lo 61 68 78 61 66 62 72 66 70 68 65 74 59 64 63 54 50 55 64 56 66 59 51 71 65 68 Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. W pc s t pc pc pc pc pc s s t s pc pc pc c pc s s pc pc pc pc sh t s
