REGION
Thursday, July 25, 2019
East Oregonian
A3
Summer can spell disaster for dogs, children left in cars
Local law
enforcement says
think twice about it
By JESSICA POLLARD
East Oregonian
UMATILLA COUNTY
— The days are long, the
pools are open, and tem-
perature predictions are
showing highs in the 90s
this week. While summer-
time is a relaxing season
for many, it’s also a poten-
tially dangerous time for
dogs and children left in
cars at the mercy of their
guardians.
“We haven’t taken that
many calls this year,” Lt.
Charles Byram of the Pend-
leton Police Department
said. “The weather is a lit-
tle milder.”
But, Byram said, the
calls do happen. Usually in
parking lots outside stores
like Safeway or Walmart.
Last month in Medford,
a man received a felony
charge for animal abuse
after falling asleep in his
home and leaving his dog
unattended in a car. The
4-year-old Miniature Pin-
scher did not survive the
incident.
While it might not seem
like a big deal to leave a
furry companion or a child
in the car for a few minutes,
the thermometer begs to
differ. Temperate 80-degree
weather can cause a car to
heat up to 99 degrees in 10
minutes, according to the
Humane Society.
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Blaze, a 7-year-old lab mix, drinks from a bucket at Pendleton Animal Welfare Shelter (PAWS). Blaze has been at the shelter
since June 5, 2019, after being impounded as a stray dog by Pendleton Police Department.
Byram said within an
hour, the temperature in
a car could rise 30 to 50
degrees from the outside
temperature.
“You’re putting them at
risk for heat stroke and pos-
sibly death,” said Umatilla
County Public Health dep-
uty director Alisha South-
wick. “Rolling down the
window is not enough. It
doesn’t help.”
Hermiston
Police
Department Chief Jason
Edmiston said that in
Hermiston, calls about ani-
mals in cars increase in the
summer.
This year, the depart-
ment has handled nearly
300 dog-related calls but
that it’s hard to say how
many of those calls were
caused by owners leaving
pets in cars.
He said the department
prefers to have police offi-
Driving away from Police catch Hermiston man
risk of vehicle fires who taunted them on Facebook
almost 230,000 vehicle fires
per year. The fires are said to
have caused over 1,400 civil-
ian injuries and $1.4 billion in
property damage every one
of those years.
Last Thursday, the Pend-
leton
Fire
Department
responded to a Ford Ranger
truck that broke into flames
outside an auto shop on South
West Court Avenue.
Aside from mindful park-
ing, there are other steps peo-
ple can take to reduce the
risk of their cars going up
in flames, and potentially
threatening nearby people
and structures.
“Most fires are due to
the vehicles not being main-
tained,” said Shawn Pen-
ninger, Pendleton assistant
fire chief and fire marshal.
Penninger said many vehi-
cle fires in Pendleton involve
semitrucks.
Oil leaks, faulty exhaust
components and worn-down
brake cables can all pose a
potential danger, both Pen-
ninger and Hodge said.
It’s also important, Pen-
ninger said, to keep your car
out of the garage and away
from houses if it appears to
be overheating.
“My first recommen-
dation,” Penninger said,
“would be to have your vehi-
cle maintained according to
the manual.”
Recent vehicle
fires serve as a
reminder to keep
cars cool and safe
from the flames
By JESSICA POLLARD
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
Umatilla County Fire District
1 responded to a call Tuesday
for a parked vehicle on fire at
5:02 p.m. near the intersec-
tion of North Ott and West
Walls Road. The cause is still
under investigation.
The fire spread to sur-
rounding grass and brush,
and the vehicle was fully
engulfed in flames when
UCFD1 arrived five minutes
later. No one was injured, but
the vehicle was a total loss.
In the region, with the
summer being dry, there is an
increased amount of fuel —
grass and brush — at risk of
catching alight, said Lt.Matt
Hodge of UFCD1.
“If someone pulls over
to take a phone call, (they
should) have a good aware-
ness of where they’re parking
vehicles,” Hodge said.
The National Fire Pro-
tection Association released
data showing that between
2007 and 2011, U.S. fire
departments responded to
The most valuable and
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our communities.
www.eomediagroup.com
iston, a popular commu-
nity Facebook page.
Calling out Officer
Mike Ellwood “and his
lil’ goons” in a profan-
ity-laced post, he wrote
“YOU
COULDN’T
CATCH ME TODAY
EVEN WHEN YOU
HAD AN ARMY WITH
YOU TIME TO PLAY
MARCO POLO.”
Many of the comment-
ers on the post, which
has since been deleted,
expressed their hope that
police would find Barrera
soon. On Tuesday they
got their wish, as an offi-
cer spotted Barrerra in
a Mercedes-Benz driven
by Austin Leroy James,
who was also wanted on
a misdemeanor failure
to appear warrant, in the
Walmart parking lot. Both
men were arrested and
lodged at the jail.
The police department
celebrated with a Face-
Aaren Antheny
Rivera Barrera
arrested on a
warrant for felony
parole violation
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — A
Hermiston man’s gloating
on Facebook over escap-
ing arrest was short-lived.
Aaren Antheny Rivera
Barrera, 27, was arrested
Tuesday in the Hermiston
Walmart parking lot on a
warrant for felony parole
violation. He is being held
in Umatilla County Jail
without bail.
Barrera ran and suc-
cessfully hid from Herm-
iston Police Department
officers last Friday when
they attempted to serve
the arrest warrant. He cel-
ebrated by bragging on
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book post of their own,
showing a picture of Bar-
rera in the back of a patrol
car with the hashtag
#POLO.
“Enjoy your stay and
the accommodations with
our good friends and fel-
low goons at the Umatilla
County Jail,” Capt. Travis
Eynon wrote.
cers, rather than code
enforcement, handle these
calls.
In 2017, it became legal
in Oregon to break into a
motor vehicle to rescue a
child or domestic animal.
Anyone who does so is
required to stay at the scene
until law enforcement
arrives. But it must first be
determined that the vehi-
cle is locked, and that there
is no way for the child or
animal to escape the vehi-
cle. It must also be deter-
mined that entry is neces-
sary because the subject is
in imminent harm.
But what does imminent
harm look like?
Dogs suffering from
heat stroke can be found
panting more than usual,
drooling and acting drowsy,
and possibly even vomit-
ing, according to the Amer-
ican Society for the Preven-
tion of Cruelty to Animals.
They might have gums and
tongues that look redder
than normal, too.
Byram said if someone
spots an animal, or a child,
in a parked car who looks
to be in danger, it might
be better to call the police
department before taking
action, if time allows it.
“We’re there in a matter
of minutes,” he said.
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