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OFF PAGE ONE
East Oregonian
Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Contributed Photo
Smoke expands Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022, from the Nebo
fire in the Eagle Cap Wilderness in Northeastern Oregon.
Wildfire:
Continued from Page A1
Freezeout Road and north
along the Upper Imnaha
Road. Firing operations will
continue along the Upper
Imnaha Road to secure the
fire backing down drain-
ages to the east. State Fire
Marshal task forces will
continue to assist with
structure protection along
the Imnaha Road and ensur-
ing the protection of life and
property in the community
of Imnaha.
Brown’s declaration
cleared the way for the State
Fire Marshal to mobilize
firefighters and equipment
to assist local resources
battling the fire and further
support a coordinated
response.
Local mutual aid and
federal resources are on
scene working to slow the
fire’s progress. An OSFM
Incident Management Team
assumed unified command
Sept. 3 with federal part-
ners. OSFM will bring in
four additional task forces
through the Oregon Fire
Mutual Aid System from
Lane, Clatsop, Washington
and Yamhill counties to
assist in the response.
The Double Creek Fire is
a “full suppression” blaze,
which means officials are
trying to douse it as soon as
possible.
The Wallowa County
She r i f f ’s Of f ice on
Sept. 4 modified the evac-
uation levels for the Double
Creek Fire. A Level 3 “Go
Now” is in effect for the
town of Imnaha and south
to Freezeout Road. The
Upper Imnaha Road, Hat
Point Road and Wallowa
Mountain Loop Road
(Forest Service Road 39)
are closed. A Level 2 “Get
Set” is in effect for the area
from the town of Imnaha
north to Fence Creek,
including the lands east
toward Lightning Creek.
A Level 1 “Be Ready” is in
effect from Freezeout south
to the Pallette Ranch and
Imnaha River Woods.
The two fires in the
wilderness, by contrast,
are “managed” fires. That
means officials are using a
variety of tactics, monitor-
ing the fires in some areas
but taking actions, such as
having helicopters drop
water and dispatching fire-
fighters on the ground, to
try to limit the fires’ spread
in certain directions.
Both wilderness fires
— Sturgill, estimated at
11,600 acres on Sept. 4, and
Nebo, estimated at 6,900
acres — have surpassed
the 2019 Granite Gulch
Fire as the biggest in the
Eagle Cap Wilderness since
the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest instituted
a policy allowing lightning
fires to burn naturally. The
Granite Gulch Fire burned
about 5,500 acres in August
and September 2019.
The Eagle Cap, at
365,000 acres, is the
biggest federal wilderness
in Oregon.
Besides the Sturgill and
Nebo fires, there are two
other fires, also sparked by
lightning Aug. 22 or 23, in
the wilderness. The Goat
Mountain Fire 1 is not active,
according to fire managers.
The Goat Mountain 2 Fire is
about 95 acres, but, unlike
the Sturgill and Nebo fires,
it did not grow substantially
over the weekend.
Sturgill fire
A group of firefighters is
prepared to protect build-
ings on private parcels at
Red’s Horse Ranch and the
Minam River Lodge, both
west of the Minam River.
However, the fire remains
east of the Minam River.
Nebo fire
On Sept. 3, the blaze
crossed Big Sheep Creek
and crested Wing Ridge
to the north. The fire also
burned outside the wilder-
ness toward Forest Road 39.
Firefighters that afternoon
evacuated the Lick Creek
Campground.
The following areas are
closed to the public:
• Use of Forest Service
Road 3900100 from the 39
Road junction to Tenderfoot
Trailhead.
• Use of Forest Road
3925015 from junction of
Forest Service Road 3925
to Lick Creek Trailhead.
• Use of Forest Road
3900200 from the 39 road
junction to Forest Service
Road 3925015 road .
• Use of Tenderfoot Trail
(1819) from the Tenderfoot
trailhead to the 1828 and
1812 trail junctions.
• Use of Lick Creek Trail
(1809) from the Lick Creek
Trailhead to the junction of
the South Fork Imnaha Trail
(1816).
Double Creek fire
On Sept. 3 the fire spread
north along Grizzly Ridge
and east toward the Snake
River.
To the south, the fire
moved down the Granny
Creek drainage toward the
Freezeout Road. Firefight-
ers are working to protect
private property along the
Imnaha River corridor,
but they had to take refuge
several times on Sept. 3 due
to intense and erratic fire
behavior, according to fire
managers.
Firefighters evacuated
several groups of hunters
in the area.
Although lighter winds
are forecast on Sept. 4, fire
officials expect the blaze to
continue to spread on the
east and west sides of Griz-
zly Ridge, and also grow to
the north.
Flames also are likely to
continue moving downslope
toward the Imnaha River
along Schleur, Adams,
College, Double and Black-
more creeks. Firefighters
on Sept. 4 worked with task
forces from the Oregon
Office of the State Fire
Marshal to protect property
and infrastructure along the
Upper Imnaha Road.
Smoke
Smoke is expected to
settle in the lower elevations
and drainages in the early
morning hours. Current air
quality information for the
local area is available on the
PurpleAir website.
Evacuations
There are evacuations
in place for the Double
Creek Fire. Hat Point and
Freezeout Roads are under
a Level 3 “Go Now” evacu-
ation. The Hat Point Road is
closed due to the fire activ-
ity. Imnaha River Road,
from Rippleton Creek to the
Imnaha Grange is under a
Level 2 “Get Set” evacua-
tion. Imnaha River Road,
from the town of Imnaha to
Rippleton Creek and from
the Imnaha Grange to the
Pallette Ranch including
Imnaha River Woods is
under a Level 1 “Be Ready”
evacuation. There are
currently no evacuations
for the Eagle Cap Wilder-
ness Fires.
Crockets Knob fire
The other major blaze in
the region is Crockets Knob,
on the Malheur National
Forest about 19 miles north
of Prairie City. The fire,
started by lightning on
Aug. 22, has burned 4,280
acres and is 15% contained.
Dakota Castets-Didier/East Oregonian
Rosalee Weller of Black Widow Racing from Caldwell, Idaho, stands before the car in the modified class Saturday, Sept. 3,
2022, at the Hermiston Raceway in Hermiston. “I’ve been racing since I was 15, I’m 35 now,” Weller said. Black Widow is a fam-
ily affair, with Weller’s family having built her last three cars.
Races:
Continued from Page A1
Sneeva and Herschel
McGriff, a NASCAR legend
and Motorsports Hall of
Famer, are just a few of a long
list of motorsport talent who
have raced at the Hermiston
track.
“Hermiston Raceway
is one of the oldest tracks
in Oregon, it’s also the last
paved track,” Greg Walden
explained.
He is the family’s raceway
historian, as well as its owner,
operator, promoter, orga-
nizer and, as he added with a
chuckle, janitor.
The raceway hosts 4,000
attendees for the Spectacular.
The racing of the day was
broken up into five racing
classes, the Betteral 100 Pro
Lates Wesco/Inland Sprints,
Speed Tour Modified, mini
stocks, AMCA and street
stocks (stocks being short
for stockcars). Each class is
composed of different cars
and challenges, but some
“double-up,” or ran multiple
races throughout the evening.
Bart Hector, from Ephrata,
Washington, has been racing
at the Hermiston Race-
way since 2008 and was
“doubling-up” — driving in
both the Modified and the
Mini Stock classes.
“My family started racing
here in the 1970s,” he said.
“Here and the Ephrata race-
track is probably where we’ve
raced the most.”
He said he wanted to finish
at least in the top five in both
classes.
A spectrum of teams fill
the Hermiston Raceway,
from hobbyist and family
teams that have been racing
there for decades to young and
voraciously ambitious talent
with NASCAR dreams.
Natalie Waters, of Natalie
Waters Racing, is 18 and on a
mission for a NASCAR seat.
Dakota Castets-Didier/East Oregonian
The checkered flag comes out Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022, during the Labor Day Spectacular at
the Hermiston Raceway, Hermiston. The event draws fans and drivers from around the North-
west for the multi-class action.
Dakota Castets-Didier/East Oregonian
Bart Hector’s No. 86 modified class car sits idle during a driv-
er’s meeting before the race Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. Hector’s
family has been racing at the Hermiston Speedway in Herm-
iston since the 1970s.
“I pretty much grew up
racing, I knew nothing other
than racing,” she said. “My
uncles, I grew up at the race
track with them. I had a love
for it by the time I was 2 or 3.”
At the Labor Day Spec-
tacular, Waters was racing
in the modified class, which
required her to develop a new
skill set and face new chal-
lenges.
“I’ve been racing open-
wheel my whole life, I needed
that full body car and horse-
power experience to get better
as a driver, so they say the
modified is one of the hard-
est cars to drive.” Waters said.
“This modified has proven it
to me. We’re in it to get more
experience.”
And NASCAR is the top
goal, she said, as her pit crew
worked tirelessly around her,
preparing her for a qualifying
session, and later, the race.
Waters would be battling it
out on track with local racing
veterans such as Bart Hector
and Rosalee Weller. Weller,
of Black Widow Racing from
Caldwell, Idaho, has been
racing for 20 years, and has
raced at the Raceway several
times.
“My last three cars have
been completely built from the
M-F fire:
Continued from Page A1
Her family has three vehi-
cles, she said, so they bolted
to get those away from the
fire. Other residents in Locust
Mobile Village lost cars and
motorcycles to the fire.
“All five of us made it out,”
Lopez said.
Lopez’s younger sibling,
Juliet, said her family has
lived there since she began
kindergarten and she now is
a senior at McLaughlin High
School, Milton-Freewater.
She said the events of that
night stunned her.
“They started yelling
to get out,” she recalled. “I
didn’t have much thinking
time.”
Members of the First
Baptist Church, 102 S. Main
St., Milton-Freewater, came
down Sept. 5 to help. Pastor
Tim Sanchez livestreamed
from the scene on the church’s
Facebook page to raise aware-
ness about the fire.
He and his wife, Robin,
said perhaps a dozen or more
people now are homeless
from this disaster. They came
Andrew Cutler/East Oregonian
Juliet Lopez, right, and her father, Manuel Lopez, on Monday,
Sept. 5, 2022, sift through the remains of their mobile home
in Milton-Freewater. Fire the night of Sept. 3 destroyed their
home and three more.
to assess how to help.
“The best way for us to
know what they need is to
come talk to them,” he said.
First Baptist is setting up
to collect donations to help
ground up by my husband,”
Weller explained, as she stood
beside her neon-green modi-
fied class car. Weller is one of
many drivers whose teams
and cars are built and main-
tained as a family affair.
Rick Thompson, from the
Tri-Cities, raced at the Race-
way for 30 years before his
son, Trace, came of age. Now,
he’s helping Trace kick-start
his racing career.
“We bought this car used,
did some upgrades to it over
the winter, massaged it, put a
new engine in it, came to the
race track, time to have fun,”
Rick Thompson said as he
stood beside his son.
The family affair extended
to the grandstands, where
families traveled from just as
far as the teams to enjoy the
Spectacular.
Throughout the evening,
fans cheered on their favor-
ite drivers, roaring for them
to “start their engines” and
loaded with winners as they
received their trophies.
The Labor Day Spec-
tacular continued through
Sept. 4, where four more
classes would compete for
racing glory.
the Lopez family and others.
But Sanchez stressed these
Milton-Freewater residents
don’t need furniture, appli-
ances or even new clothes.
“They have no place to put
it,” he said. “They’re biggest
need is going to be housing.”
But housing in the small
town near the Washington
border is tight, Sanchez said,
and the Red Cross has been to
the trailer park but residents
are waiting to hear back from
the charitable organization.
The Lopez family are
staying with another family
in Walla Walla, other resi-
dents at the trailer park have
opened their homes to their
neighbors.
Lopez said she was
stunned at what survived —
her diploma from Eastern
Oregon University.
The document was pris-
tine. Not a hint of damage of
any sort.
She graduated summa
cum laude in June with a
Bachelor’s of Science degree
in computer science.
Lopez said while the
family lost belongings, they
did not lose each other. But
they will have much work to
do to rebuild.