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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2016)
A6 News wallowa.com August 3, 2016 Wallowa County Chieftain FIRE Continued from Page A1 Columns of smoke could still be seen rising over the blaze Sunday, which scorched roughly 500 acres of grass and timber along Interstate 84 up Emigrant Hill. The total num- ber of acres burned had been estimated as high as 800, but that igure changed based on more accurate mapping, Knight said. The ire was 25 percent contained as of Sunday eve- ning. Evacuation warnings for the nearby town of Mea- cham also had been lifted en- tirely. “The winds didn’t come up like they did (Saturday),” Knight said. “That really helped a lot.” The ire started at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday, with res- idents and Emigrant Springs State Park evacuated later that evening. More than a dozen people wound up at the Oregon Trail Store & Deli in Meacham where they planned what to do next. “We’re kind of at the cen- ter of town,” said store owner Dixie Earle. “We had people load up here and regroup, and igure out where they were going.” Earle said the store’s phone lines were knocked out earlier in the day, and a near- ly two-hour power failure in Union County may have also been attributed to the ire damaging power lines. Though the ire never came too close to Meacham, Earle said they could see plenty of smoke hovering in the dis- Staff photo by E.J. Harris Spot fires smolder in the distance as traffic travels on Interstate 84 on Sunday near Deadman Pass east of Pendleton. tance. A temporary shelter for residents was established up at Sunridge Middle School in Pendleton, though Rebecca Vaughn with the American Red Cross said nobody had arrived by Sunday morning. That likely means those fam- ilies found assistance else- where, Vaughn said, though the shelter will remain avail- able until evacuation orders are lifted. “We’re ready to stand down when we get the word,” Vaughn said. The Blue Mountain Type 3 Interagency Incident Man- agement Team took com- mand of the ire Sunday morning, and will continue to work strengthening ire lines. There are approximately 285 ireighters on scene, with ire Photo contributed by John Buckman, ODF Fire crews respond to a 500-acre blaze in the Blue Mountains east of Pendleton on Saturday. several wildires also were visible in Grant County over the weekend. Two ires near Unity were reported Sunday: Staff photo by E.J. Harris A road sign is damaged on Interstate 84 after a burning felled tree appears to have hit it while firefighters were battling a wildfire east of Pendleton. camp established on private property at Poverty Flats. As many as nine single-en- gine air tankers, one heavy air tanker, two helicopters, one air attack and one lead plane have been called in to provide air support, along with three bulldozers and more than a dozen ire engines on the ground. Plumes of smoke from Rail Fire The Rail Fire, which start- ed Sunday about 10 miles west-southwest of Unity, was at about 700 acres as of Mon- day morning, according to Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Public Affairs Spe- cialist Matt Burks. The ire is about 2 miles long and a half- mile wide, burning in lodge- pole pine, he said. Four engines, two hand crews and a bulldozer are on scene, Burks said, and ad- ditional resources were en route. Air resources are also resuming initial attack oper- ations. Burks said ireighters are focusing on constructing line on the north and east sides of the ire. The nearby South Fork, Stevens Creek, Elk Creek and Mammoth Springs campgrounds have been closed. The nearest private land is 2 miles east of the ire. Burks said the cause of the ire is unknown. According to the Blue Mountain Interagency Dis- patch Center morning brief- ing, residences are threatened, evacuations are in effect and “extreme ire behavior with crowning and group torch- ing” was witnessed. A type 2 incident management team was tentatively scheduled to assume command of the ire. Whitney Fire About 11 miles north-north- west of Unity, crews are bat- tling the Whitney Fire, which was also reported Sunday, ac- cording to the Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch Center morning brieing. The ire was about 15 acres as of Mon- day morning, Burks said, and crews have constructed lines around the entire ire. Five engines, two hand crews and a bulldozer are working to improve the ire line and containing the ire, he said.