NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, August 10, 2019
Progress at HK Complex challenged by storms
Complex fires
30% contained
with eight fires
completely
contained
mostly took place from the
planned merging of the two
fires so that crews can further
secure lines around them.
Both the Forest Service
and the Oregon Department
of Forestry are partnering in
certain areas and are prepar-
ing for the risk of “abundant
lightning” in the area spark-
ing more.
On Thursday, the National
Weather Service issued a red
flag warning until 10 a.m. on
Saturday due to potentially
strong thunderstorms bring-
ing lightning, heavy rain
and hail along with “erratic”
wind gusts of up to 50 mph to
the area. Last weekend, light-
ning in the area originally
ignited the fires.
Preparations include ana-
lyzing the different fire areas,
which according to Maloney
each feature unique topogra-
phy challenges to confront.
“It’s important to identify
key trigger points at each of
the areas so our crews know
at how much wind and how
much rain they need to pull
firefighters the heck out of
there,” she said.
At Friday morning’s brief-
ing, Maloney said all fire-
fighters were instructed to
review page 21 of their safety
handbooks. Page 21 outlines
guidelines to follow in thun-
der and lightning storms and
things to consider such as
sounds and atmospheric con-
By ALEX CASTLE
East Oregonian
HEPPNER — Crews con-
tinue to make “good prog-
ress” on the HK Complex
Fires in the Umatilla National
Forest with lightning fore-
casts threatening to start
more, according to a press
release on Friday morning.
The release from North-
west Incident Management
Team 6 states that the fires
are 30% contained with eight
fires that have been com-
pletely contained. In total, the
fires have burned 2,655 acres,
which is 200 acres larger than
Thursday’s report.
The fires are reportedly
burning out along three miles
of line east of Tupper Butte.
Many of the small fires have
been contained and crews
continue to mop them up
and patrol the area, while
the Sulfer Springs and Little
Bear fires have merged at the
21 Road.
Lauren Maloney, pub-
lic information officer for
Northwest Incident Manage-
ment Team 6, said the addi-
tional 200 acres of burning
Photo contributed by Umatilla National Forest
Firefighters and members of the Incident Management Team meet on Friday morning at the Mor-
row County OHV Park, where a fire camp has been set up as they battle the HK Complex fires.
ditions that can alert crews
when they need to leave area.
The weather may help
some of the crews’ efforts
too.
“Fortunately it looks like
we’re going to get some rain,”
Umatilla National Forest
public affairs officer Darcy
Weseman said.
That rain can help dampen
some of the fires, she said,
and will help lower the fire
risk in coming days with
the lower temperatures that
accompany it.
However, Maloney said
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
A shower and
t-storm around
Intervals of clouds
and sunshine
Partly sunny and
beautiful
Nice with clouds
and sun
Pleasant with
plenty of sunshine
78° 59°
78° 53°
the rain also means that crews
must consider road condi-
tions with many of them
around the fire areas being
unpaved. She said crews are
being thoughtful with what
large equipment they use and
where they use it to avoid get-
ting stuck in the mud.
“Personally, I’m going
to allow extra time to drive
safely between areas and
not feel pressured by time,”
Maloney said.
Weseman acknowledged
that the rain can also lead to
what she calls “sleeper fires,”
Brown signs bill to encourage
more affordable housing options
By SARAH
ZIMMERMAN
Associated Press
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
83° 57°
80° 52°
82° 57°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
83° 61°
81° 57°
86° 58°
83° 55°
86° 60°
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
68/59
76/55
82/57
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
79/60
Lewiston
74/58
84/62
Astoria
68/58
Pullman
Yakima 82/61
73/56
81/62
Portland
Hermiston
77/60
The Dalles 83/61
Salem
Corvallis
73/54
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
74/55
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
73/55
71/47
74/52
Ontario
81/58
Caldwell
Burns
89°
67°
89°
59°
107° (1972) 43° (1931)
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
74/56
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
71/57
0.00"
0.00"
0.06"
4.56"
5.10"
5.98"
WINDS (in mph)
81/57
74/42
Trace
Trace
0.10"
9.61"
6.49"
8.05"
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 71/50
75/56
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
78/59
80/62
86°
58°
89°
59°
111° (1898) 43° (1901)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
74/58
Aberdeen
78/57
79/63
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
73/59
Today
Sun.
SW 6-12
W 4-8
WSW 8-16
WSW 10-20
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
64/39
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
Full
Last
New
Aug 23
Aug 30
Sep 5
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
50s
ice
60s
cold front
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Copyright © 2019, EO Media Group
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
Keeney Meadows wolves
confirmed by camera
Army Corps reports suspected
oil leak into Snake River
JOHN DAY — Two wolves seen east of
Highway 395 and north of Mount Vernon
don’t appear to have bred, and there’s been
no evidence of livestock depredations.
According to Ryan Platte, of the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife’s John Day
Field Office, trappers first reported seeing
two black wolves in the Hog Creek and Long
Creek Mountain area during the past winter.
ODFW personnel found the wolf tracks
in the snow and set up trail cameras. There
were no hits until June after the cameras
were relocated, Platte said. First they had a
photo of a single wolf, then another photo
with another wolf and finally a sequence of
one and then the other, he said.
A rancher working on a fence in the Kee-
ney Meadows area reported in June seeing
one wolf for sure and maybe a second, Platte
said.
Platte said ODFW believes the two are a
male and female because one is larger than
the other. No pups have been photographed
by the trail cameras, which are checked
about every two weeks, he said.
RICHLAND, Wash. — Up to 300 gal-
lons of oil may have leaked into the Snake
River from a power-generating turbine at
Lower Monumental Dam.
The Tri-City Herald reports the Army
Corps of Engineers reported the suspected
spill this week, but it’s unclear when it
happened.
The Army Corps disclosed the incident
to regulators and the environmental group
Columbia Riverkeeper under the terms of a
2014 settlement agreement.
Columbia Riverkeeper had sued to stop
oil releases from the eight dams on the lower
Snake and Columbia rivers.
The group issued a statement Thursday
calling the most recent disclosure the latest
in a series of spills that highlight the threat
posed by the four aging Snake River dams.
The Corps reported that 200 to 300
gallons of unspecified “turbine oil” may
have leaked from a turbine shaft at Lower
Monumental.
— EO Media Group and Associated Press
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Association. “Oregon has
taken incredible first steps in
addressing its housing crisis.”
It’s estimated that nearly
2.8 million people live in cit-
ies affected by the law, which
was inspired by a Minneapo-
lis city ordinance.
A lack of affordable hous-
ing is part of the reason
behind soaring rents, experts
suggest. From 2000-16, Ore-
gon produced only 89 houses
for every 100 families,
according to state data. The
period following the Great
Recession saw some of the
lowest growth, with only 63
units produced for every 100
households from 2010-16.
Thousands of people have
poured into the state for jobs
and in some cases, for a lower
cost of living.
One in three renters pays
more than 50% of income on
rent. That’s far higher than
the Congressional-set defini-
tion of housing affordability,
which suggests setting aside
30% toward housing costs.
BRIEFLY
First
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Aug 15
SALEM — Oregon hopes
to build its way out of its
housing crisis under first-in-
the-nation state legislation
signed by Gov. Kate Brown
Thursday meant to encour-
age local cities to construct
denser, more affordable
housing options.
The law targets a cen-
tury-old practice known as
“exclusionary single fam-
ily zoning,” where local city
governments only allow
for the construction of sin-
gle-family homes. The zon-
ing often prohibits multi-
family residences including
duplexes, triplexes and others
that are often more inexpen-
sive. Critics say the practice
has acted as a form of eco-
nomic and racial segregation.
“If a community is filled
with only large and expen-
sive homes, that often
restricts who can move
there,” said Robert Silver-
man, a professor of urban and
regional planning at the Uni-
versity of Buffalo. “Couple
that with the other historical
barriers that have prevented
minorities from homeown-
ership and this all works to
perpetuate segregation in
communities.”
Under the new law, cities
with more than 10,000 resi-
dents must now allow for the
construction of some type of
what’s known as “missing
middle housing,” or hous-
ing types that are some-
where between high-rise
apartments and single-family
homes.
The move comes months
after the governor signed
the nation’s first rent control
law, limiting rent increases to
about 10% annually.
“States across the coun-
try should pay attention to
what Oregon is doing on
housing,” said David Morely,
a senior research associate
with the American Planning
5:49 a.m.
8:12 p.m.
5:04 p.m.
1:24 a.m.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 109° in Thermal, Calif. Low 37° in Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
where fires can be smoldered
but not completely put out by
the rain, and then reignited
by strong winds.
To address that risk,
Maloney said there will be
five engines and crews on a
night shift that will patrol the
area tonight.
“We need to be extra vig-
ilant with lightning in the
area,” she said.
The release warns that
when lightning is active, peo-
ple should seek shelter in a
vehicle or building. If you
are outdoors and cannot find
shelter, the release says to
find a place low to the ground
that’s away from tall trees,
wire fences, utility lines and
other conductive devices.
After 474 personnel being
assigned to the fires as of
Thursday, Friday’s release
reports there are 448 per-
sonnel currently assigned.
Resources include multiple
engines and crews along with
multiple fixed-wing and heli-
copter aircraft.
Aviation resources and
lookout towers that are
tasked with monitoring the
complex’s current fires and
detecting new ones may not
be operational if the area
is hit with lightning and
high winds, according to
Weseman.
The fire danger rating
remains high and public use
restrictions on chain saws
remain in effect according to
the release. A closure order
also remains in effect due to
fire activity in the area.
A public meeting will be
held at 6 p.m. on Friday night
about the HK Complex Fires.
It will be located at Hepper
City Hall on 111 North Main
Street.
“The intent is to share
information and update
locals about the status of the
fires,” Weseman said. “And
also to provide an opportu-
nity for people to ask ques-
tions about the efforts.”
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