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
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