OFF PAGE ONE
Thursday, July 14, 2022
East Oregonian
Fire:
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County Fire District No. 1
reported it sent firefighters
and equipment at 8:17 p.m.
to a call about a recreational
vehicle fire on Northeast
Eighth Place.
Matt Fisher, UCFD No. 1
battalion chief, added some
insight to the situation.
The fire department did
not find an RV ablaze, he
said, but a flaming ware-
house. The warehouse, which
firefighters referred to as a
“commercial structure” and
a “truck shop” in a residential
neighborhood.
Amanda Dunham said
she lives on Northeast Fourth
Street behind Walmart a few
blocks from the fire and
came out of her place around
8:30 p.m. when she smelled
smoke. Then she saw the fire.
“You could see it pretty
well from my house,” she
said.
The location was Wilde
Electric Motor Supply, 610
N.E. Eighth Place, she said,
and so she and others hopped
in a pickup and headed over.
By then first responders
blocked off most routes, but
Dunham said they found a
way to get closer to the fire.
“They were tall flames,
they were really going,” she
said.
And while watching the
blaze, she said there were
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
A semi remains outside the burned warehouse Wednesday, July 13, 2022, at the intersection of Northeast Eighth Place and
East Catherine Avenue, Hermiston, where a fire erupted the evening before.
explosions coming from
inside the warehouse.
Firefighters work into
the night to put out
pockets of fire
Fisher stated the building
contained fuel, including motor
oil and propane. This fuel, he
said, caught fire, leading to
“multiple large explosions.”
Shortly after 10 p.m.,
firefighters still were on the
scene, spraying a burning
warehouse with water.
Neighbors sitting just
outside the property said
mechanics had operated there
in the past.
Fisher said the build-
ing was evacuated, though
people returned after being
directed away from the fire.
One person, according to
Fisher, received minor burns
from the fire after returning
to the building while it still
burned. The person refused
medical attention, Fisher
said.
Fisher added a second
person on location suffered
injuries that were unrelated to
Fred:
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Erick Peterson/Hermiston Herald
Cases of water sit June 23, 2022, in front of the Morrow Coun-
ty Government Center, 215 N.E. Main Ave., Irrigon.
Water:
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Echo company takes
over water delivery
Morrow County contracted
with Desert Springs Bottled
Water Co. of Echo to deliver
water to people with tainted
wells. Each home in need
could receive 4 or 5 gallons
of water every two weeks, he
said. How much that will cost
remains a question.
Doherty said the county
is discovering greater and
greater nitrate contamina-
tion in an increasing number
of homes. He said he has
recently seen test results
with nitrate levels in the 50
to 60 parts per million range
outside both Boardman and
Irrigon.
“Sixty-eight is now, I
think, our high,” Doherty
said. “It was 59.”
He said Desert Springs
scheduled water bottle deliv-
ery to around 60 Morrow
County homes starting July 9,
but the number of customers
could jump up to 200 within
the next week and even more
soon after that.
Given the potential for
change, the commissioner
stated he couldn’t estimate
the county’s cost.
And while Desert Springs
is providing a valuable
service, Doherty said, the
water deliveries remain a
“stopgap.” Both deliveries
and the pickup sites, he said,
will eventually terminate. It
could be three months, he
said, as the county makes
other plans.
A longer-term solution, he
said, is installing the filters
onto kitchen taps in people’s
homes.
County balks at
Irrigon’s offer
Morrow County Emer-
gency Management on
June 16 sent a letter to the city
of Irrigon.
“Morrow County would
like to officially request to
use city water in its efforts
to distribute clean cook-
ing and drinking water to
the rural residents of Irri-
gon who have a domestic
well within the 97844 ZIP
code and whose water has
been tested and shown to be
above the Center for Disease
Control and Prevention’s
(CDC’s) recommended levels
of nitrate,” states the letter
from Morrow County Emer-
gency Manager Paul Gray to
Irrigon City Manager Aaron
Palmquist.
The Irrigon City Council
discussed the request at its
June 21 meeting and voted
to authorize the sale of city
water to Morrow County.
Palmquist in a letter
June 22 to Gray outlined an
agreement for city staff to fill
water containers and distrib-
ute water.
Water fees would be
$0.025 per gallon. The
county also would need to
pay a deposit of $900, with
$750 being refundable,
according to a request form
with Palmquist’s letter.
Irrigon’s city manager on
July 7 said he had not heard
back from the county about
the matter. Irrigon had not
opened a hydrant, and the
county’s water distribution
site in Irrigon was handing
out bottled water.
Doherty stated he didn’t
hold anything against the
city. Irrigon has economic
concerns of its own, he said,
and it’s completely within its
rights to offer to sell water
rather than gift it to the
county. Doherty added the
county was pursuing alter-
native efforts to bring fresh
water to local people.
Educating the public
remains a priority
While the county makes
further efforts to test samples,
distribute fresh water and
schedule filter installations,
the commissioner said there
is work to do in making more
people aware of the problem.
Doherty said that, a month
into the emergency, he is still
encountering local people
who are unfamiliar with the
problem.
“They’re wondering what
this well-sampling is all
about,” he said.
He added the county is
planning to mail information
to homes in the county.
“It’s sad whenever you
lose a friend,” said Johnny
Blagg, Cowboy’s president.
“He was our Tenderfoot,
Pendleton’s second oldest
community service award.”
“Fred was very import-
ant to VFW activities,”
said Post 922 Commander
Clifford Smith of Athena.
“He was instrumental in
reinstating our Fourth of
July parade, and was post
quartermaster for several
years.”
Smith noted Bradbury
was chairman of the VFW
Cowboy Breakfast during
Pendleton Round-Up.
“The sad news was a
shock,” he added. “I had
just worked with him on
the parade.”
“Fred’s loss leaves a
large hole in Pendleton’s
volunteer community,”
said Pendleton Mayor John
Turner, Bradbury’s fellow
U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
“He was a vital volunteer
in so many different areas.
In the Downtown Associ-
ation, he worked steadily
and quietly.”
Turner noted Bradbury
also had served as the trea-
surer of a local political
action committee a few
years ago.
the fire itself and was rushed
to Good Shepherd Medical
Center, Hermiston.
He credited local emer-
gency agencies for coming
together and helping with
this fire.
Fire district crews from
Echo, Boardman, Umatilla
joined in the effort, as did the
ambulance from the Morrow
A7
County Health District. A
total of 29 firefighters were
on the scene, including 17
from Umatilla County Fire
District No. 1.
“A lot of people are here
helping with this,” Fisher
said. “It’s been a very busy
night.”
Cause of fire under inves-
tigation, mother-to-be is OK
Umatilla County Fire
District No. 1 on July 13
reported the cause of the fire
is under investigation and
the structure is closed to
the public. The district
also reported it notified the
Oregon Department of Envi-
ronmental Quality due to
contaminated runoff from
the fire. And aside from the
one man who suffered burns,
there were no other injuries.
Aughinbaugh said she
saw the man who had been
injured by the fire. She said he
initially refused medical help
but was terribly blistered and
eventually decided to visit
Good Shepherd for treatment.
She said she returned
home from the hospital,
herself, after doctors deter-
mined she was not going into
labor and her pregnancy was
not endangered.
Saying she was in good
spirits, she joked that this
incident might somehow
influence her unborn child’s
career path.
“He might become a fire-
fighter,” Aughinbaugh said.
Other neighbors joked about
nicknaming the child “Sparky.”
East Oregonian, File
Pendleton City Councilor Dale Primmer, center, cuts the
ribbon for a new hangar at the Eastern Oregon Region-
al Airport in Pendleton on May 19, 2021, with Pendleton
Chamber Ambassadors Tom Kligel, left, and Fred Brad-
bury. Bradbury, longtime community volunteer, died Fri-
day, July 8, 2022, at the age of 80.