Wallowa County Chieftain News wallowa.com September 2, 2015 A7 ATTACK: 'RJs LQMXUHG E\ µlaUJH FaQLQH¶ lLNHl\ a ZRlI Continued from Page A1 Neighbor and rancher Col- lin Cunningham took the two dogs to the Yet, nearly 60 miles away in Enterprise, so the men could continue their work of rescuing cattle. Wallowa County Sheriff¶s Deputy Fred Steen met them at the Double $rrow 9eterinary Clinic in En- terprise and took the report. “The Yet report is that they were attacked by a Yery large canine, bigger than a coyote,” said Chelsea 0atthews. “$t this point 2regon Department of Fish and Wildlife is calling it a µprobable wolf attack.¶” Scooter took the brunt of the attack and was “roughed up top to bottom,” said Double $r- row Yet tech Darcy 0oncrief. Scooter suffered a long punc- ture wound to his shoulders that required stitches, and now sports three drainage tubes. He¶s tired and he¶s not much interested in being famous, but he got top quality Yet care and he¶s going to be okay. Young Tom had an injury to his face and his “nether parts” and was sore, but didn¶t ap- pear to haYe suffered the mus- cle puncture that sometimes accompanies wolf bites eYen when they do not puncture the skin. He¶s happy to see any- body and is ready to go home. Neither Tom nor Scooter, when he¶s well, will go back BLAZE: Falls &UHHN ¿UH QR lRQJHU a WKUHaW Continued from Page A1 With limited resources be- cause of the rash of high-acre ¿res elsewhere in the state and its location on a wilder- ness area, only about 0 ¿re- ¿ghters initially responded to the blaze. Because of the ¿re¶s pro[imity to homes, some regulations for ¿ghting wild¿res in wilderness areas were rela[ed, allowing for the use of chainsaws as well as gasoline pumps and ¿re hos- es placed in creeks near the blaze. While the ¿re neYer grew substantially during any one period, the steep terrain and lack of resources allowed for slow but steady growth of the ¿re oYer the ne[t week. $fter consultation with the USFS, /eYel 1 get ready eYacua- tion notices were issued for homes and structures in the area by the Wallowa County Sheriff¶s 2f¿ce and emergen- cy serYices personnel. $s resources became aYailable, more ¿re¿ghters, including smoke jumpers, were added to battle the blaze. Helicopters, sharing duties with the larger Grizzly Bear Comple[ ¿re in the northern section of the county, began making regular appearances at a helibase established at the Joseph airport, carrying water to both ¿res from the site. The USFS initially set up their command post at the Eagle Cap District Rang- er of¿ces in Joseph before moYing to the Chief Joseph Days grounds. $ Type ,n- cident Command Team, led by Francis Tyler of Halfway, arriYed, charged with ¿ghting the blaze. Tyler called the effort a “true interagency operation,” noting the close work of the USFS, 2regon Department of Forestry, Wallowa County serYices and the Joseph Fire Department. The JFD was en- trusted with structure protec- tion and spent about 2.5 days working with the USFS, in- stalling pumps and sprinklers, including some belonging to the department, in areas with endangered homes. Two public meetings were held at the Joseph Communi- to looking for cows on Eden Bench in any case, as Buck has decided there is too much risk of their paws being burnt. Was the attacker a wolf? Probably. The Matthews report seeing a wolf within a half-mile of the home place twice since the at- tack, Chelsea Matthews said. “Rancher friend Todd Nash and Buck saw the wolf the morning of the attack when they went up on the home place on Grouse Flats to gather cows for shipment,” Chelsea Matthews said. “My sister-in- law, Mona, and , saw him up on Bartlett Bench about a half- mile from our house when we went to meet the semis that were hauling out the cattle. He¶s black and big.” The wolf is most likely a surYiYor of the Wenaha pack, displaced by the ¿res. 2DFW East Region Manager Bruce Eddy said the Wenaha Pack had most likely escaped the ¿re. “My guess is they are so incredibly mobile they can get out of the way of ¿re,” he said. Many of the wolYes in the area are black, according to State Wolf Program Coordina- tor Russ Morgan. “$bout half or more are black,” he said. “But we could haYe a wolf from anywhere. We just don¶t haYe enough data on the Wen- aha area wolYes to know them. They¶re usually up-slope in the Timothy and Jubilee areas this time of year. They¶re the least Yisible pack. That wolf could be a wolf traYeling through or eYen a Washington wolf.” The Matthews haYe eYacu- ated cows from the home place and continue to search for the cows that had been grazing on Eden Bench when the ¿re swept the area. “Most of the home cows haYe been shipped,” said Chel- sea Matthews. “We¶Ye found 70 head out of the 300 out on Eden Bench. Buck is still ¿nd- ing them. ,t usually takes two months to gather them. We e[pect to ¿nd them. /ots of them haYe burned hooYes and legs, but they seem to be scab- bing up well. We¶re going to be monitoring them closely.” When rescued, the Eden Bench cows will stay on Grouse Flats at the home place now that the ¿re danger is low- er. $ll in all, Chelsea Mat- thews said, things are returning to normal. She e[pected to pick up the dogs and bring them home on Monday, $ug. 31. “Today $ug. 31 the kids are starting school in Troy,” she said. “They¶re the only students this year. 2ther than Troy being packed with ¿re- ¿ghters and National Guard, it seems pretty normal. ,t¶s looking better, we¶re making progress.” FESTIVAL: GRIZZLY: FLUH SHUFHQW FRQWaLQHG Continued from Page A1 there is no Yisible smoke or continues and ,ncident Com- /LQHXS heat. They were joined by a mand reported on Tuesday “We¶re not sure what the small contingency of fiYe to that 20 percent of those lines µH[FLWLQJ¶ ¿re off to the north will mean, eight Washington National are in a condition that should Continued from Page A1 ty Center to answer questions and report on ¿re¿ghting progress. The second meet- ing, held $ug. 2, was held in response to what could haYe been a make-or-break eYent on the ¿re projected high winds of up to 40 mph and possible thunderstorms on $ug. 2. Ty- ler and others on the ¿re told the public the ¿re was well un- der control, but a /eYel 2 eYac- uation notice was in effect as a “worst case scenario” response to the forecast. Well into the eYening, he- licopter after helicopter Àew to the ¿re with sloshing buck- ets of water in preparation for the eYent. The promised winds came on the following morning, increasing in inten- sity through the afternoon, reaching 60 mph at one point. $ small amount of rain fell, but the lines held, and the ¿re gained few, if any, acres during the onslaught. The ¿re¶s back was broken. Sunday, more rain fell and eYacuation leYels receded a notch. The USFS released its ¿nal daily update, noting the ¿re as 5 percent contained and that ¿re operations will ramp down oYer the ne[t few days. 2n the morning of $ug. 31, Wallowa County Sheriff SteYe Rogers issued a state- ment that all eYacuation no- tices are lifted from homes in the ¿re area. Upper Hurri- cane Creek Road has the same traYel restrictions until further notice. The cause of the ¿re is still under inYestigation. From Spokane, Wash., the Marshall McLean Band merg- es elements of folk, rock and $mericana, with thoughtful songwriting and a bold blend of these genres. $nother Spo- kane band, Mama Doll fea- tures a unique grooYe of folk, ¿lled with harmonies and soul. Representing the far north- western corner of Washing- ton State are internationally acclaimed songwriters DaYe McGraw & Mandy Fer, from the San Juan ,slands. Togeth- er, their e[ceptional Yocal harmonies coupled with Fer¶s pioneering electric guitar work haYe become a Yehicle to carry them around the world. The 2015 Jam¶s musi- cians from the Portland area include Will West & the Friendly Strangers and Run 2n Sentence, each with their own special brand of upbeat folk-$mericana. The show will also feature a short set by local faYorite Sorry, Neighbors Casey .iser, Patrick Pow- ers and Matt Harshman. The opening round-robin set on the Tunesmith Stage will feature local songwriters Joey Carper, from Union, Carolyn Lochert of Lostine and Bart Budwig, an Enterprise resident. Tickets for Juniper Jam 2015 are 1 at the gate or 15 in adYance at Joseph Hard- ware, Lear¶s, The Bookloft, M. Crow & Co. or online at www. juniperjam.com. .ids ages 12 and under get in free. Gates open at noon. For complete festiYal infor- mation Yisit www.juniperjam. com. so we¶re being cautious,” he said. Cautious is the watch- word in any case, according to ,ncident Command, which warns both firefighters and residents not to become complacent. The caYalry has also come oYer the hill in the form of two groups of 2r- egon National Guard sol- diers. The 310 guardsmen made their way to Troy and Grouse Flats and members are reportedly on the line, aiding in the area mop-up. They will remain on site, en- larging the defensible space near structures, widening fire lines and making sure contain the fire and preYent it from spreading in those di- rections. $long the southeast corner of the fire, workers are busy dropping hazardous trees along 62 road. The Grizzly Bear Com- ple[ fire is now listed as comprised of 1 lighting cause fires — Bear Ridge in Washington, a 4,500-acre fire, was added in recently. The larger comple[ has not yet joined Bear Ridge, but is e[pected to, shortly. Treat- ment has already been done to keep the fire from “going crazy” once the Comple[ and Bear Ridge join up, Wilkening said. Guardsmen proYiding com- munications assistance, ac- cording to Wilkening. Firefighting crews from $laska and New Me[ico haYe also joined the fight. ,n all, oYer 1,000 indiYiduals are now working on contain- ing the fire. The fire continues to burn in the Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness, Umatilla Na- tional Forest, and state and priYate forest land protected by the Washington Depart- ment of Natural Resources and 2regon Department of Forestry. South of Troy, mopping up and widening of fire lines World Rabies Day is September 28 Sept. 28- Oct. 2 Wallowa Lake, OR 541-432-4940 Fresh Sourdough Crust Daily ep ab We are offering a RABIES VACCINATION SPECIAL tem ies be Day for previously unvaccinated are dogs, cats, and horses: r 28 is o PE ffe r in C $15 rabies vaccination, free g do IAL exam. fo a gs, r ina cats tio , ow n , Call to schedule now 541.426.3331 201 East Hwy 82 Enterprise, OR 97828 541.426.0320 $7 FALL it IS When comes COMING! to your home GET YOUR or business, the Safe FILLS! Way PROPANE is 1 the Best Way! Aug thru Sept 30 Bumper Boat Rides thru Labor Day Restaurant open on weekends thru Sept. 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