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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 16, 2019)
REGION Friday, August 16, 2019 Hermiston man steps up when needed By JESSICA POLLARD East Oregonian Staff photo by Jessica Pollard George Gritz, left, was presented with a plaque by Umatilla County Fire District 1’s Lt. Josh Smith, right, for saving the life of Richard Vern, center. cent,” said UCFD1 Lt. Josh Smith. “Less than half of the time, someone steps in to do something.” Smith was one of the first responders on the scene the morning of the incident. “We want people to act with CPR,” he said. For Gritz, this wasn’t the first, or even the second time that his CPR training helped save a life. He received his certifica- tion back in the 1980s, when he was working construc- tion in Hermiston. Just a few weeks after finishing his class, a man collapsed at a restaurant in Pendleton and Gritz came to the rescue. “That restaurant was packed,” he said. But he was the only one to step up and offer assistance. Years later, it happened again at a restaurant in Port- land. And last year, when his late wife collapsed, Gritz administered CPR until first responders came. “You can’t be afraid to step BECOMING CPR CERTIFIED The American Heart As- sociation estimates that 70% of Americans feel in- capable of acting during a cardiac emergency because they are not trained in CPR, or their training is out of date. Bystander CPR, according to the organization, can so much as triple the chance that someone ex- periencing cardiac arrest survives. Those interested in be- coming CPR certified can call UCFD1 at 541-567- 8822 to see about joining a class, up. If you don’t, nobody’s will- ing to. Every time I’ve been in this position, it’s surprised me,” he said. “You don’t want to panic. What are you going to do wrong?” ODOT preparing to work on Exit 179 By ALEX CASTLE East Oregonian UNION — The Oregon Department of Transporta- tion announced via a press release Wednesday that the eastbound Exit 179 off-ramp on Interstate 84 to Interstate 82 will be closed for 24 hours beginning at 10 p.m. Sept. 7. The closure is to seal the ramp’s bridge deck and com- plete other repairs. “We wanted to get the word out as soon as possi- ble so people know and can be prepared,” said ODOT spokesman Tom Strandberg said. According to Strandberg, the construction is happen- ing now because there was another project completing bridge repairs to the north and now seemed the ample time to complete work on Exit 179. During the closure, the press release states motor- ists needing to use Exit 179 can instead take Exit 168 to U.S. 730, then continue on U.S. 730 for 15 miles until connecting to I-82 near Umatilla. The press release warns that travelers should be cautious using the U.S. 730 detour due to potentially higher traffic. Non-commercial vehicles can also take Exit 180 at the Westland Road interchange to get on the I-84 westbound lanes and take Exit 179 from there to connect to I-82. Exit 180 is not suitable for com- mercial vehicles, Strandberg said, because the off-ramps turn radius isn’t as gradual as those built for freight trucks. ODOT also announced in a separate release on Wednesday it will be hosting a public meeting in Union on Monday, Aug. 26, to dis- cuss a pilot project focused on improving sidewalk curb ramps in the city. “Your input is greatly A3 Umatilla Forest fire season held at bay By KATY NESBITT For the East Oregonian George Gritz honored for using chest compressions to save life of friend who collapsed HERMISTON — The morning of July 9 was shap- ing up to be like any other for George Gritz as he sipped his coffee at the Pheasant Cafe downtown. But things quickly turned south when his a friend of his, Richard Vern, collapsed out- side the restaurant. “I didn’t wait,” Gritz said. Immediately, he and sev- eral others ran to Vern, who was suffering from cardiac arrest. Gritz turned him onto his back, and started admin- istering chest compressions, fearing the worst. “It felt like forever, but it was only a few minutes before the fire department came,” Gritz said. “Thank God, it worked.” The two know each other from around town, and often spend mornings chatting over breakfast and coffee. “He is pretty well known around town. And a hell of a nice guy,” Gritz said. Vern stood healthy and tall as he joked with Gritz about their differing political views before a room full of people Wednesday night, when Uma- tilla County Fire District 1 awarded Gritz a plaque for his actions. “Nationwide, the rate of people coming back from car- diac arrest is about 10 per- East Oregonian PENDLETON — A late winter and wet spring have kept a lid on the 2019 Uma- tilla National Forest wildfire season. Despite summer storms that put down hundreds of lightning strikes, fires have stayed small this year. Of the 80 fires that started last week on the forest, 19 in total started in the Heppner Ranger District. Umatilla National Forest Deputy Fire Chief Jody Prummer said while the HK Complex of 12 fires burning on the district were a logistical challenge, the total acreage consumed was kept to only 2,700 acres. “A couple of those fires had flashy fuels and strong, down canyon, gusty winds and grew to a point we ordered in a Type 2 overhead fire team,” Prummer said. As the level of complex- ity or size of a fire increases, so does the level of manage- ment expertise. Prummer said logistical coordination simplified as crews made good progress putting in fire lines allowing the forest to downsize the fire to a Type 3 overhead team. Contain- ment and control lines were adequate enough for the Heppner District to retake management of the complex on Wednesday and direct the mop-up and fire line rehabilitation. Six of the fires started by last week’s storms were in wilderness areas of the Umatilla National Forest, but Prummer said they are all in control status or were deter- mined to be completely out. Smoke jumpers and helicop- ter crews were dispatched to the wilderness fires, Prum- mer said, crews that typi- cally stay on remote fires until they are declared out. Unlike the Granite Gulch Fire in the Eagle Cap Wilder- ness of the Wallowa-Whit- man National Forest that has been under minimum suppression tactics in order to allow the fire to burn up dead, down and dying trees, Prummer said none of the Umatilla National Forest Photo Fire crews do mop-up work on the HK Complex Fire, about 15 miles north of Monument. wilderness fires on the Uma- tilla were allowed to burn. “It would be a good year to let wildfire clean up the forest, but that last lightning storms started so many fires we got on them right away,” he said. A career firefighter who worked as a smoke jumper and a Union Interagency Hot Shot Crew member, Prum- mer has seen decades of fire activity. He said after the hot, dry and extreme fire activity of recent years, 2019 seems to be more like the fires he worked 10 to 15 years ago. “We had pretty good snowpack across the Blue Mountains and moisture late into the year,” he said. “Even our live fuel moistures are extremely high for August.” While Heppner bore the brunt from the last series of lightning storms, the Ore- gon Department of Forestry said more than 13,000 light- ning strikes were recorded in Eastern Oregon in the last 10 days. Firefighters have been dispatched to 70 fires across the 6 million acres of land protected by the Depart- ment of Forestry and Walker Range Forest Patrol in the Eastern Oregon Area. Of the 70 fires, only one grew larger than 10 acres. The majority were put out as single burn- ing trees or fires smaller than one-tenth of an acre. Jamie Paul, Eastern Ore- gon Area assistant direc- tor, credited the effort of fire crews’ hard work. “Responding to so many fires in such a short time period, and keeping them small demonstrates how dedicated and aggressive ODF firefighters are to ini- tial attack fire suppression,” Paul said. The Department of For- estry’s said increased district and association staff and resources, like severity air- craft specially funded by the Oregon Legislature, were instrumental in the success of initial attack during this lightning event. In addition to federal and state crews managing most of the fires, the Department of Forestry said Central and Eastern Oregon fire protec- tion associations and volun- teer firefighters suppressed more than 30 fires in the past week. So far, the Department of Forestry has recorded 114 lightning fires that burned 1,300 acres this summer, a big difference from the 10-year average of 12,000 burned acres per year on Eastern Oregon’s state pro- tected lands. Staff photo by Ben Lonergan The Exit 179 off ramp from I-84 eastbound to I-82 north- bound will be closed from Sept. 7. at 10 p.m. until Sept. 8 at 10 p.m in order to seal the bridge deck on the ramp. appreciated as we work to improve accessibility and safety for our commu- nity members,” said ODOT Transportation Project Man- ager Howard Postovit in the release. The project is scheduled to begin construction in 2020 and is necessary to com- ply with a 2016 settlement between ODOT and a group of Oregonians that required the state to meet current requirements in the Amer- icans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which became law in 1990 and prohibits discrim- ination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life. The settlement required the state to immediately fund $5 million for 10,000 curb ramps and 1,500 pedes- trian crossing signals. ODOT was then required to con- struct a plan to inventory all non-compliant curb ramps and crossing signals that included target benchmarks for completion. By 2022, ODOT must have replaced or upgraded 30% of non-compliant curb ramps. All curb ramps must meet ADA standards by 2032. In Union, ODOT plans to add or upgrade curb ramps along Main Street between Bryant and Oregon Street, and along Beakman Street between Main and Col- lege Street. Strandberg said he wasn’t sure exactly why Union’s locations were cho- sen for the pilot project but that other pilot curb ramp improvements were also hap- pening in Enterprise and cit- ies in western Oregon. Beyond improving these locations in Union, the proj- ect will inform ODOT on how best to proceed with upgrading over 26,000 curb ramps across the state. “The project will show- case innovating ramp designs and construction techniques that will help streamline the process as we try to catch up,” Strandberg said. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. during the Union City Council Workshop meeting at Union City Hall, which is located at 342 South Main Street. According to the press release, the meet- ing locations is accessible to persons with disabilities. Those needing alternate or special accommodations can contact Postovit at Howard. 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