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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 2018)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Tuesday, November 27, 2018 Firefighting crew has common trait: military service By ANDREW SELSKY Associated Press SALEM — After being in firefights in Afghanistan and Iraq, members of one of America’s newest elite wildfire crews are tasked with fighting fires in rugged country back home. On the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s only hotshot crew focused on recruiting veterans, mem- bers have traded assault rifles and other weapons of war for chain saws and shovels. But, like in the mil- itary, they have camaraderie, structure and chain of com- mand. And the occasional adrenaline rush. “Being in a firefight is way different than being in a wildland fire, but both are mentally taxing,” said Chris Schott, who served two tours in Afghanistan with the Army’s 7th Special Forces Group. “In a wild- land fire, no one’s shooting at you, but conditions can go favorable to unfavorable very quickly.” The Lakeview Veterans Interagency Hotshot Crew, based in Klamath Falls, received its hotshot certifi- cation after rigorous train- ing and testing, the Bureau of Land Management Kari Greer/BLM/USDA Forest Service via AP A member of a fire crew out of Lakeview works on the Cougar Creek Fire in central Washington state on Aug. 17. announced last week. It’s now among 112 elite U.S. wildland firefighting teams and the only targeting vet- erans for recruitment, the agency said. Crew superintendent Michael McGirr said he and other managers took then-President Barack Obama’s initiative to hire veterans to heart. “We felt it was important for them to transition back home,” McGirr said. Their maturity and ability to follow and lead are ben- efits that quickly became apparent when the crew started operating in 2012 as a lower-classification unit, McGirr said. Their mili- tary experience also means they’re used to enduring tough missions. “It’s a lot of arduous hiking in nasty terrain,” McGirr said. “The steeper the terrain, that’s usually the ground hotshots are on.” Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY Mostly cloudy with a little rain Rather cloudy A touch of afternoon rain Rain and drizzle in the morning Snow, sleet mixed in early 53° 42° 52° 36° 55° 42° 54° 35° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 43° 34° 48° 35° 45° 38° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 46° 37° 51° 37° 47° 40° OREGON FORECAST ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 56/45 45/39 50/29 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 52/43 Lewiston 57/47 55/43 Astoria 56/45 Pullman Yakima 48/35 55/43 49/39 Portland Hermiston 57/47 The Dalles 55/42 Salem Corvallis 56/45 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 43/36 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 57/45 51/35 47/38 Ontario 40/32 Caldwell Burns 42° 30° 45° 31° 67° (1933) 4° (1993) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 57/46 0.00" 0.27" 1.02" 6.72" 8.67" 8.30" WINDS (in mph) 43/32 44/24 Trace 0.39" 1.25" 8.54" 15.17" 11.24" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 44/34 57/47 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 53/42 51/40 36° 27° 44° 30° 71° (1892) 1° (1993) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 56/43 Aberdeen 44/37 44/33 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 57/47 Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 54/40 Wed. SW 4-8 SSW 7-14 WSW 4-8 WSW 6-12 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 48/31 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 7:10 a.m. 4:15 p.m. 9:08 p.m. 11:28 a.m. Last New First Full Nov 29 Dec 6 Dec 15 Dec 22 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 88° in Immokalee, Fla. Low -12° in Gunnison, Colo. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s ice 50s cold front — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 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 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 postal holidays, 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. Copyright © 2018, EO Media Group 60s 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front high 110s low Kenn Boles, a member of the crew since 2012 who did three tours in Iraq as a Marine, agreed that veterans can withstand the intense work. “You’re working hard, sweating; the fire doesn’t stop because of those things,” he said. “It’s like in combat — just because you’re hungry, tired and thirsty doesn’t mean the fire- fight stops.” The crew is on leave erans to share their war- time experiences with those who understand what they endured. Boles lost a close friend a week after he left Iraq. That was the biggest contributor to post-traumatic stress dis- order that hit him later, he said, describing it as “a lot of survivor’s guilt.” The veter- ans have each other’s backs when PTSD issues arise, acting as a support group. “Instead of bottling it up, we’re really receptive to hearing people’s stories and problems,” said Boles, who was in the invasion of Iraq and in heavy fighting in Fal- lujah and Ramadi. Schott, who served in Afghanistan’s Urozgan Province north of Kanda- har, said, “A lot of times you think, this can’t get any worse. And yet you made it through.” He was in an operations center when he heard radio traffic about someone killed in action. It was his best friend. “Myself, I was in denial for quite a long time about my PTSD,” Schott said, adding that joining the crew and opening up to other vet- erans “helped me get my life back on track and where it needs to be.” Oregon abortion laws bring in out-of-state residents By MARKIAN HAWRYLUK The Bulletin BEND — Oregon is pro- viding more abortions than its residents receive, a sign the state’s abortion laws are less restrictive than in some neighboring states. According to data released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion last week, Oregon resi- dents underwent 7,847 abor- tion procedures in 2015, out of a total of 8,610 abortions performed within the state — about 11.2 percent of abor- tions in Oregon were for out- of-state residents. For comparison, in Idaho, fewer abortions (1,272) were performed than residents received (1,695), with just 4.6 percent for out-of-state residents. Washington had nearly the same number of total abortions and abortions for residents. “We tend to assume that because abortion is legal that everybody has readily avail- able access to the procedure when needed,” said Grayson Dempsey, executive director for NARAL Pro-Choice Ore- gon. “The reality is that for women who are in a state like Idaho, they are often needing to cross state lines or get to urban centers to get the care they need.” According to the Gut- tmacher Institute, which tracks abortion policy from state to state, Idaho has a number of restrictions in place that make it harder for women to access abortions. Those include state-directed counseling designed to dis- courage women from having abortions, a 24-hour waiting period and, for minors, con- sent of a parent. Oregon has none of those restrictions. In some cases, women living near the Oregon bor- der may find it closer or more convenient to drive across state lines. That occurs in the Ashland area with women from Northern California. The CDC did not provide data from California in the report. Dempsey said a number of women fly from Alaska to Portland or Seattle to seek abortions. In other cases, women may cross into Oregon to get certain types of abortions not available where they live. Women in Vancouver, Wash- ington, can get abortions from a local Planned Parent- hood clinic. They must travel to a clinic in Portland if they need a second-trimester abor- tion, which are not offered at the Vancouver clinic. Oregon is one of only a handful of states that allow nurse practitioners to per- form abortions. In 2006, the Oregon board of nursing was the first in the country to rule that aspiration abortion was within the scope of practice for family nurse practitioners. “It’s really increased access in small and rural com- munities,” Dempsey said. “That is a huge way in which Oregon is not only progres- sive in its legislative commit- ment to reproductive rights but really furthering access for women in ways that have a really practical impact on women needing services.” Crabbers sue fossil fuel companies SALEM (AP) — Com- mercial crabbers in Oregon and California are suing 30 fossil fuel companies, claim- ing they are to blame for cli- mate change, which has hurt their industry. The Pacific Coast Fed- eration of Fishermen’s Associations filed the law- suit last week in California State Superior Court in San Francisco against compa- nies including Chevron and Exxon Mobil, news outlets reported. “The scientific linkage between the combustion of fossil fuels and ocean warm- ing, which leads to domoic acid impacts in our fisher- ies, is clear,” Noah Oppen- heim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federa- tion of Fishermen’s Associa- tions, told the San Francisco Subscriber services: For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1 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 Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday Circulation Manager: Bonny Tuller, 541-966-0828 and hasn’t been battling the recent deadly wildfires in California. Of the 25 positions on the crew, 17 are filled by veter- ans, McGirr said. There are three additional openings, and McGirr said he wants to recruit female veterans, too. Schott, the Army veteran, said the crew felt they had the potential to achieve elite hotshot status after fight- ing fires in 2015, includ- ing one in Oregon’s Cra- ter Lake National Park that they almost had contained when winds picked up and changed direction, pushing the flames behind them. They worked two weeks in a row, digging fire lines and doing prescribed burns to deprive the fire of fuel. After three days off, they worked another two weeks straight. “After that, we thought we could be the first vet- erans hotshot crew in the nation,” Schott said. The crew usually works for nine months, with three months off. “We spend more time together than with our fam- ilies,” McGirr said. “It’s a grueling pace. We eat together, sleep together.” That creates a camara- derie that allows the vet- Chronicle. “We know it, and it’s time to hold that industry accountable for the damage they’ve caused.” West Coast crab- bers experienced signifi- cant losses starting in the 2015-16 season when mas- sive algal blooms caused by warm ocean tempera- tures resulted in a domoic acid outbreak that reduced the length of the crabbing season. The season was cut short again in 2016-17 for the same reason. In California, Dunge- ness crab brought in over $47 million in 2017 and $83 million in 2016; the amount was down to $17 million in 2015, during the industry’s first major problem with domoic acid. Crab is the most valuable ADVERTISING Regional Publisher and Revenue Director: Christopher Rush 541-278-2669 • crush@eomediagroup.com Advertising Services: Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com Grace Bubar 541-276-2214 • gbubar@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 • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com single species commercial fishery in Oregon, with an average harvest of 16 mil- lion pounds per season, the Statesman Journal in Salem, reported. There are nearly 1,000 Dungeness crab permit holders in California and Oregon. Scott J. Silvestri, corpo- rate media relations manager of Exxon Mobil Corp., said in an email to the Chroni- cle that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a global issue and requires global participation and actions. “Lawsuits like this — filed by trial attorneys against an industry that pro- vides products we all rely upon to power the economy and enable our domestic life — simply do not do that,” he said. Classified & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: call 541-966-0818 or 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 sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com Business Office Manager: 541-966-0822 COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
