A6
OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
Pendleton Run
Vale District Bureau of Land Management/Contributed Photo
The Willowcreek fi re burns in northern Malheur County on
Wednesday, June 29, 2022.
Danger:
Continued from Page A1
Although the fi re danger
rating is high on BLM ground,
Crouch noted that the agency
has yet to impose restrictions
on campfi res.
Nor has the Forest Service.
That’s in sharp contrast
to 2021, when a dry spring
resulted in an abnormally
early start to fi re season and to
its associated regulations on
public lands in Northeastern
Oregon.
This year, Crouch said,
“those late spring rains put a
lot of moisture in the ground
and greened things up.”
Both Crouch and Goodrich
agree that the 2022 fi re season
is more typical for the region,
in that the fi re danger, rather
than rising to extreme levels
even before the summer
solstice, is beginning to rise
only as July nears its middle.
“It feels more like a typical
season from the 1990s or early
2000s,” Goodrich said.
Between 1999 and 2010,
about 80% of the wildfi res on
the Wallowa-Whitman started
between July 15 and Aug. 15,
he said.
Although he said statistics
haven’t been updated for the
past fi ve years, he suspects that
there have been more fi res in
CCS:
Continued from Page A1
CCS has staff shortages
everywhere, as do most coun-
seling services in Oregon,
Lindsay explained. But the
situation is more acute in
Umatilla County due to the
transition from the county’s
former provider, Lifeways,
to CCS.
“We could ask clinicians
to work 60 hours a week,”
she said, “but then they’re
already burnt out. Case load
is not the killer. Issues are
now more complex ... stress
and the pandemic have led to
deeper struggles than three
to four years ago. We are
working more closely with
law enforcement and first
responders.”
The Oregon Legislature
recently allocated funds that
raise pay and may help alle-
viate staffi ng issues, Lindsay
said.
“But even after more staff
is hired, it can take two to
three months before they
start work,” she noted. “They
have to give notice to their
present employer, then might
take some time off and fi nally
need to go through orienta-
tion here. But I do see some
hope on the horizon.”
Those in need face
obstacles
Tammy Fisher, 64, said
she suff ers from mental and
physical health conditions.
She said she lives on Social
Security Disability Insurance
and recently moved to Pend-
leton from Washington state.
Fisher contacted CCS to
set up an appointment. Since
she hadn’t been a patient with
Lifeways or CCS for the past
two years, the provider did
not have her records.
“I was told I would have to
have a mental health intake
appointment before I could
receive services,” Fisher said.
“I understand the need for
intake assessment, but I was
told the next appointment
wasn’t available until Janu-
ary in Umatilla County. The
records from my Washington
provider for the last two years
could be transferred, but that
wasn’t an option.”
Fisher has been trying to
cope while waiting for an
intake assessment at CCS.
the fi rst half of July than in the
past, and that the fi re season
has extended a bit later into late
summer and early fall.
Fire danger remains
moderate in most of
Northeastern Oregon.
The energy release compo-
nent, an estimate of how fast
a fi re would spread based on
moisture levels in fuels, is
below average in each of the
six geographic zones that the
Blue Mountain Interagency
Dispatch Center monitors.
The numbers, which briefl y
went above average in late
June before dropping again
due to widespread rain in early
July, have been rising again for
the past several days.
In addition to the increas-
ing fi re danger, Goodrich and
Crouch are tracking weather
patterns that bring thunder-
storms to the region.
That’s a crucial factor,
since lightning in most years
ignites about 80% of the fi res
on public land.
(The percentage is gener-
ally lower on private land,
where human-caused fi res are
more common.)
In the meantime, Crouch
said the grasses and sagebrush
that fed the Willowcreek fi re
will continue to be a source of
easily burned fuel.
“Our fuel loading in the
grasses is much higher than it
was last year,” he said.
She said she was running
low on medications. In the
Tri-Cities and Hermiston
she had found general prac-
titioners unwilling to write
mental health prescriptions.
Fisher made an appoint-
ment with a local family
practice doctor, hoping to
get a refi ll prescription for
her medications on Tuesday,
July 12.
“Even though it was my
first appointment,” Fisher
said, “she will write my
prescriptions until I can get
in the CCS system.”
With her medications
issue solved, Fisher said she
still needs counseling. Her
only alternative to mental
health clinicians is a hospital
emergency room.
“If I have a bout of severe
depression, then I have to go
the ER,” she said. “But they
don’t do much unless you’re
suicidal.”
Fisher faces waiting
fi ve months for assessment
and admission to clinical
services. She said some-
thing needs to be done to
help individuals get services
on a timely basis in Umatilla
County.
Photos by Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Motorcyclists race in the Summer Chute Out III on Saturday, July 16, 2022, in the Pendleton Round-Up Arena.
A stunt motorcyclist fl ies through the air Saturday, July 16, 2022, in the
Pendleton Round-Up Arena for the Pendleton Run motorcycle event.
Dan Stanley, 50, from Washington, gets
ready for motorbike racing in the Summer
Chute Out III on Saturday, July 16, 2022, on
the track in the Pendleton Round-Up Arena.
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
A racer speeds across the dirt track Saturday, July 16,
2022, during the Summer Chute Out III in the Pendleton
Round-Up Arena.
The audience watches Summer Chute Out III dirk bike rac-
es Saturday, July 16, 2022, on the track in the Pendleton
Round-Up Arena.
Motorcyclist Kenan Duncan from Washington, left, pos-
es for a photo Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Pendleton af-
ter competing in the Summer Chute Out III, right, in the
Pendleton Round-Up Arena. He said he has been racing
since he was 5 years old.
Adam Mcnabb, left, and his father Ron McNabb, right,
pose for photos Saturday, July 16, 2022, in Pendleton
where they competed in motorbike races in the Summer
Chute Out III on the track in the Pendleton Round-Up Are-
na. The pair are from Boise, Idaho, and have been racing
and traveling together since Adam was a child.
‘Situation is
nothing new’
Umatilla County Board
of Commissioners is aware
of the issue and working on
addressing it.
“The commissioners meet
with Kimberly every four to
six weeks,” said John Shafer,
Umatilla County commission
board chair. “The situation is
nothing new. It was occurring
under Lifeways. We’re moni-
toring the delays. They’re
improving, but not enough
yet.”
The county is increasing
CCS funding by $750,000
during the next three years,
largely to hire more clinicians,
Shafer noted. The county allo-
cated $200,000 in fi scal year
2021-22 and plans on boosting
that to $250,000 in each of the
next three fi scal years.
Shafer also said the prob-
lem is not unique to CCS.
“It’s statewide, but a situ-
ation we don’t want to be in,”
he said. “It’s not just a short-
age of clinicians. Demand
for mental health services
has risen. Job losses during
the pandemic led to a spike
in daytime drinking, other
addictions and depression.”
Motorcyclists prepare to race Saturday, July 16, 2022, at Summer Chute Out III in the Pendleton Round-Up Arena
during the Pendleton Run.