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.
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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
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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.