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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2015)
Wallowa County Chieftain News wallowa.com September 30, 2015 A3 Wallowa FD wins $100,000 grant By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Fire¿ghters in Wallowa will not only be safer this year, their breathing gear will be interchangeable with oth- er departments in the county. This is a great bene¿t if ¿re- ¿ghters are called to multi- ple-agency ¿re events. The complete upgrade of turnout gear (coats, hel- mets, pants, boots and gloves and breathing apparatus) is thanks to a FEMA Assis- tance to Fire¿ghters grant of $104,610. The new gear is required by the National Fire Protec- tion Association. “They’re requiring us to change the turnouts every 10 years and tanks every 15,” said Wallowa Fire Chief Gary Hulse. “It’s been 15 to 20 years since those tanks were exchanged.” Additionally, said Hulse, there was a need for all de- partments in the county to have the same equipment so that it was interchangeable. “Upgrading that breathing equipment will take about $75,000 of the grant,” Hulse said. “There’s no way in heck we could have done this without the grant.” Hulse’s department is run on a yearly budget of $24,000. The chief got per- mission from city council to hire a grant writer and go for the big grant. “I’d never writ- ten a grant,” he said. “I feel very lucky we’ve gotten the money.” The grant money has al- ready arrived and a call for bids is going out soon. “We expect to be purchas- ing by the end of the year,” Hulse said. 2I¿FLDOV(ONQRWZROI OLNHO\FDXVHGKRUVHGHDWK By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain Wallowa County and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife authorities were called out to a ranch on the upper Imnaha Riv- er to investigate a possible wolf depredation on a horse. The in- cident occurred Sept. 18. ODFW wildlife biologist Mike Hansen said his investiga- tion indicated wolves were not responsible for the killing. He cited a number of reasons for his conclusion. Hansen said his investigation showed the horse suffered a sin- gle puncture wound to the left groin, which he theorized had nicked a femoral artery, causing the horse to bleed to death. The biologist said the other horse in the pasture was unharmed. No predator tracks of any kind were found near the body or in the pasture. A subsequent search into the surrounding area didn’t Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain Chief Wecks demonstrates the Joseph Fire Department’s new tool. Three hand prints on the countertop are clearly visible on the thermal imagining camera. Joseph FD gets lifesaving tool Thermal imaging camera can be used for ‘multiple things,’ chief says Another use is to see where the hot spots are in a burn- ing structure or locate a heat source in a very smoky house. “It’s way easier to ¿nd people in a smoky house as well,” Wecks said, “because you can see the heat signature in the shape of a person.” The device was purchased thanks to a $5,000 grant from Wildhorse Foundation, matched by $2,500 from the ¿re department. “This is the ¿rst thermal camera in the county,” said By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain Joseph Fire Department has received a new tool de- signed to help save lives: a thermal imaging camera. The hand-held device will record heat signatures, even many minutes after the source of the heat has passed. When Fire Chief Jeffery Wecks demonstrated the de- vice Thursday night he made a series of hand prints on a counter and then looked at the area with the camera. Even many minutes later, the hand prints were still clearly visible on the camera. The bene¿t of that, Wecks explained, is that rescuers at a car crash can use the device to see heat signatures on the seats of a car and determine if one or more of the occupants have been ejected from the car. “We use it for multiple things,” Wecks said. “We re- cently used it on the Ski Run Road ¿re to ¿nd hot spots in the timber.” COME PEDAL THE RAILS WITH US! Wecks. “We’ll share it if other departments need it.” turn up any predator sign. Hansen also reported that other than an eye puncture, probably caused by a bird, the horse suffered no other injuries except a couple of scrape marks near the puncture site. “I think it was probably an elk. We found numerous elk tracks in the area, and the punc- ture is consistent with an elk horn wound. This is unusual, but not unheard of,” Hansen said. Hansen related how in the past, a Rogue Valley ranch- er watched as a spike bull elk killed one of his heifers during feeding time, goring the heif- er through the lungs and liver. ODFW Rogue Watershed biolo- gist Mark Vargas con¿rmed the incident. Many Thanks to our community! The family of Hal Long wishes to thank our Wallowa County friends for the cards, calls, care, concern, prayers, visits and helping hands during his illness and passing. We invite you to celebrate Hal's spirit at a gathering Sunday October 4, 3 - 6 pm at the Josephy Center, 403 N Main St in Joseph. Please join us for appetizers and dessert, shared stories, and photos. If you cannot attend, email stories to lakesidelynn@eoni.com. 301 W. Main, Enterprise • 541.426.3177 BIRTH A daughter, Elba Peytyn Bender-Baird, was born August 31, 2015, in Beaverton to Scott and Ashlie Bender-Baird of Beaverton. Grandparents are Jeff & Paula Bender-Baird of Lake Oswego, and Jesus & Edis Mejia of Thousand Oaks, Calif. A daughter, Bryer Ruth Ross, was born September 11, 2015, in Enterprise to Cody and Josey Ross of Enterprise. Grandparents are Amy & Dan Courtney, George & Morningstar Kohlhepp, and Theresa & Dennis Ross. All Day or Two Hour Guided Adventures Thanks for a great season! See you again next May! FINAL DAY Oct 4th Fri- Mon, 8am to 4pm 304 N Main, Joseph Oregon 97846. Departures at 9am, 12pm and 3pm Reservations advised. Call 541-910-0089 Email jbrailriders@gmail.com www.jbrailriders.com Looking for attention? Where locals like to meet, eat, drink, meet & be merry! C'mon down & join us for Local, Live Music Wednesday, 9/30, 7:30-9:30pm w/ singer/songwriter, Spence Palermo Next Wednesday, 10/7, Glenn Olson Open 11am-10pm, Wed-Sun HIGHWAY 82, LOSTINE • 541-569-2246 Stay Connected On Facebook GET IT in the classifieds! Visit wallowa.com or call 541.426.4567 Visit us at Wallowa.com A daughter, Isabel Grace Naughton, was born September 13, 2015, in Enterprise to Heath and Jennifer Naughton of Enterprise. Grandparents are Tammy & Rodney Odegaard, and Yvonne & Bill Naughton.