REGION
Thursday, June 10, 2021
ODF begins fi re season in
Northeast Oregon District
East Oregonian
LA GR ANDE — A
drier than normal spring
and stretches of warmer
than normal weather has
prompted the Oregon
Department of Forestry to
begin fi re season on private
forest lands in Northeast
Oregon.
Fire season began at
12:01 a.m., Wednesday,
June 9, for forest and range-
lands protected by ODF’s
Northeast Oregon District.
“We’ve been seeing fi re
conditions and behavior
that is more indicative of
mid to late July recently,”
Joe Hessel, ODF Northeast
Oregon forester, said. “The
fuel moisture of our dead
fuels is already at a point
where they will readily
burn, and it won’t be long
before our grasses have
cured.”
The fi re season declara-
tion places fi re prevention
restrictions on landowners
and public. Additionally,
fi re prevention regulations
on industrial logging and
forest management activi-
ties are also in place.
“By decla r i ng f i re
season, we can put measures
in place to prevent human-
caused fi res,” Hessel said.
“We’re already seeing fi res
caused by lightning, so we
need to use the tools we
have to minimize other
ignition sources.”
Lands aff ected include
private, state, count y,
municipal, and tribal lands
in Union, Baker, Wallowa
and Umatilla counties
along with small portions
of Malheur, Morrow and
Grant counties within the
Oregon Department of Forestry/Contributed Photo
Firefi ghters in July 2020 take on the Schoolcraft Fire 15
miles southwest of Ukiah. Fire season began at 12:01 a.m.,
Wednesday, June 9, 2021, for forest and rangelands under
the protection of Oregon Department of Forestry’s North-
east Oregon District.
Northeast Oregon Forest
Protection District. This
area encompasses approx-
imately 2 million protected
acres.
“In a normal season, we
would have experienced
spring moisture which typi-
cally delays the start of fi re
season until later in June,”
he said. “This season,
signif icant amounts of
moisture have been absent.
We’ve already had substan-
tial fi res on the landscape
and it’s time to do every-
thing we can to mitigate
fi re starts.”
County adopts burn bans amid drought
A non-agricultural burn ban began on Tuesday, June 8, to be
followed by a ban to include agricultural burns on June 16
East Oregonian
PEN DLETON
—
Umatilla County announced
its annual nonagricultural
burn ban went into eff ect at
noon Tuesday, June 8, and
an open burn ban to include
agriculture would go into
eff ect Wednesday, June 16.
According to a press
release, the Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners
adopted the bans in a June 8
meeting “in response to seri-
ous drought related condi-
tions in Umatilla County.”
The bans include all
unincorporated areas of the
county but excludes lands
belonging to the state of
Oregon, the federal govern-
ment, the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation and areas that
are in rural fi re districts, the
press release said.
The burn ban effective
June 8 prohibits burn barrels,
yard and garden debris piles
and small-scale residential
burning, the press release
said. The ban eff ective June
16 adds agricultural burning
to the list of prohibited activ-
ities.
Delaying the open burn
ban until June 16 “will give
SALEM — Umatilla
Cou nt y Ci rcuit Cou r t
Judge and Oregon National
Guard Brigadier General
Daniel Hill retired from his
position in the military on
Saturday, June 5, according
to a press release.
Hill’s ser vice ended
with a small ceremony at
the Major General George
White Headquarters of the
Oregon Military Depart-
ment in Salem, the press
release said.
“It was nice to see folks I
hadn’t seen for a while and
go through the ceremony
that I missed last year,” Hill
said.
He was scheduled to retire
a year ago, but the cere-
mony was delayed due to
COVID-19. The ceremony,
which was brief and small
due to COVID-19 restric-
tions, included an intro-
ductory statement from
Adjutant General Michael
Stencel. Hill then received
the Defense Superior Service
Medal, the Legion of Merit
and the Oregon National
Guard Exceptional Service
Medal, he said.
Hill, of Her miston,
served in the military for
33 ye a r s ,
mostly with
the Oregon
National
G u a r d ,
before he
finished
Hill
a tou r as
assistant
to the chief counsel of the
National Guard Bureau in
Washington, D.C. He added
that he would have served
longer had his tour not
ended in May 2020.
“Had I been given an
option and a promotion, I
would have stayed,” he said.
“But I had a great ending. It
was natural timing to retire
at that point.”
Before then, he served
as state judge advocate, the
Oregon National Guard’s
top legal position. He was
appointed to the position
in 2015 while maintaining
a role as circuit court judge
for Umatilla and Morrow
counties.
Hill went into active
duty for the Army as a
lieutenant with the Judge
Advocate General’s Corps
in 1987. Four years later, he
joined the National Guard,
according to news reports.
In 2005, Hill was the task
force staff judge advocate
during Hurricane Katrina in
New Orleans. A year later,
he deployed to Camp Phoe-
nix in Kabul, Afghanistan,
where he served on the task
force Phoenix Five.
Hill said the people he
served with is what he will
remember most about his
time in the military.
“You remember certain
things,” he said, “like
large dust storms in Kabul,
Afghanistan, t raveling
through Kabul in a small
convoy of Ford Rangers. Or
sitting in the New Orleans
area area post-Katrina as
Rita was coming in. But it’s
the people around you. It’s
all about the people you’re
working with, the people
you’re helping, the people
you’re serving.”
Hill received several
awards for his military
ser vice, including the
Bronze Star Medal for his
work on crime and corrup-
tion issues in Afghanistan,
according to news reports.
He also received a Merito-
rious Service Medal with
three Bronze Oak Leaf
Clusters and the Army
Commendation Medal, the
press release said.
H i l l s a id he w i l l
continue to serve as a
circuit court judge for the
indefi nite future.
A3
LOCAL BRIEFING
Hermiston
foundation
awards grants
HERMISTON — The
Greater Hermiston Commu-
nity Foundation announced
grants to six nonprofits
and one city ranging from
$1,000 to $5,000 for its 2021
grant cycle.
The endowment fund
uses investment earnings
on donations to the fund for
grants to community proj-
ects and nonprofi ts in the
greater Hermiston area.
Awards for 2021 were as
follows:
• Domestic Violence
Services, $1,600.
• Cat Utopia, $1,000.
• Good Shepherd Health-
care System Emergency
Department, $1,100.
• E a st e r n O regon
Mission, $3,300.
• City of Echo, $5,000.
• Hermiston Senior
Center, $2,000.
• Trucare Pregnancy
Resources, $1,000.
“Today is a special day
for the Foundation and
all the donors who have
contributed to the endow-
ment fund,” Greg Harris,
president of the Greater
Hermiston Community
Foundation, said in a
news release. “With their
help, in just over three
years, we are now able to
assist many great projects
in the greater Hermiston
community.”
For more information
visit www.greaterhermis-
ton.com.
Hermiston food
truck pod to close
for construction
H ER M ISTON —
Hermiston’s food truck
pod on the cor ner of
Orchard Avenue and
Third Street will tempo-
rarily close for construc-
tion starting July 1.
Patrick Hunt, owner of
Southern Twain BBQ at
Nate Rivera/Contributed Photo
Seniors at the Harkenrider Senior Activity Center, Hermis-
ton, show off a check from the Greater Hermiston Commu-
nity Foundation.
the pod, said construction
could last up to six weeks.
The food pod was
started as a pilot program
by the city of Hermiston
in 2019. While the city
council received positive
feedback overall, partici-
pating food truck owners
said there were other truck
owners who were only
interested in joining the
pod if there were water and
sewer hookups provided,
similar to an RV park.
Construction scheduled
for July will add utilities,
as well as additional shade
and other improvements.
In a post on Facebook
announcing the closure,
Hunt said it has been
taking about a month for
people to get food permits
from Umatilla County
Public Health, so if new
food trucks want to join
the pod once it reopens,
now would be a good time
to submit paperwork.
Sunset Elementary
to get new leader
HERMISTON — Sunset
Elementary School Dean of
Students Erin Andreason
will be promoted to princi-
pal of the school next year,
according to a news release
from the Hermiston School
District.
Andreason has worked
at elementary schools in
Hermiston for 14 years,
including at Rocky Heights
Elementary and Sunset.
She will replace Prin-
cipal Jerad Farley, who is
leaving Sunset to work at
the district offi ces as direc-
tor of elementary instruc-
tion.
The news release also
stated Director of Human
Resources Jake Bacon will
continue overseeing human
resources for the district,
but his title will change to
assistant superintendent.
Sandy mayor
visits Pendleton
on listening tour
PENDLETON — Sandy
Mayor Stan Pulliam is
on a swing through East-
ern Oregon as he explores
running for governor in the
2022 election.
Pulliam earlier this
spring announced he is
considering a run for the
state’s top offi ce and would
embark on a listening tour
across Oregon.
Pulliam’s Pendleton
session to listen to the public
is Saturday, June 12, 10 a.m.
to noon, at Roy Raley Park,
1205 S.W. Court Ave.
— EO Media Group
(smoke management) permit
holders time to conduct”
last-minute burning, the
press release said. Smoke
management permit hold-
ers are required to check for
burn day status by calling
541-278-6397 or by visiting
the Umatilla County website
or its smoke management
Facebook page.
Residents wanting to learn
more about the burn ban or to
report illegal burning can call
the Umatilla County Plan-
ning Department at 541-278-
6252 or Umatilla County
Dispatch 541-966-3651 after
5 p.m. and on weekends.
Hermiston judge retires from
military after 33 years of service
By BRYCE DOLE
East Oregonian
East Oregonian
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