A12
LOCAL
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Enterprise couple shares diff erent take on house fi re
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — An
Enterprise couple is disput-
ing the fi ndings local offi -
cials used to determine what
caused the fi re that led to
extensive damage of their
home last month.
Much of the top-level
deck on the three-story home
of Richard and Reta Grif-
fi th — a home that includes
a daylight basement — and
the garage is among what is
known to be damaged after a
smoker caught fi re June 11.
The extent of the damage
is still unknown. The inte-
rior of the home has not been
assessed.
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
A damaged grill lays on the deck of the Griffi ths’ Enterprise
home, with a Little Chief Smoker, which the Griffi ths said was
the source of the fi re, laying behind it.
Disputing the fi ndings
Following last month’s
fi re, Enterprise Fire Chief
Paul Karvoski said that a
barbecue had caught fi re,
and the fi re then spread to
the home. Enterprise Police
Chief Kevin McQuead also
said that was the case.
Both Griffi ths dispute
that conclusion, saying that
the now-damaged barbe-
cue wasn’t turned on — and
hasn’t been for years, Rich-
ard Griffi th said.
Both also said Richard
Griffi th had not fallen asleep
while the smoker was warm-
ing up. Instead, Richard
Griffi th said, he laid down
for a few minutes while the
smoker got going, and asked
Reta Griffi th to watch it
during that time. The couple
was preparing salmon to put
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Richard Griffi th points to where the fi re that damaged the Enterprise home of him and his wife,
Reta, started on June 11, 2021.
in the smoker, they said.
“My wife was draining
the salmon,” he said, adding
he got the smoker prepared.
“I said, ‘I am going to go lay
down for a few minutes.’ My
wife was tending that. Next
thing she said, ‘The smoker
and the house is on fi re.’”
Both
Karvoski
and
McQuead have said in fol-
low-up phone calls they
stand by their original report.
McQuead said it’s more
semantics than anything
about whether the barbecue
or the smoker caught fi re,
and added it does not really
matter if Richard Griffi th
was asleep or not when he
went inside.
“Whether he was sleep-
ing, laying down or other-
wise, he was not attentive,”
McQuead said. “(It) still
doesn’t make him criminal.
It would make his insurance
company question him.”
McQuead said, though,
that because they found
nothing that would point to a
crime, there was nothing fur-
ther for the police to gather.
“Nothing criminal (was
done), so law enforcement
isn’t going to take any other
information,” he said.
A matter of minutes
Reta Griffi th said it
wasn’t more than a few min-
utes between the time her
husband stepped inside the
home and the time she saw
smoke — then the fl ames.
“About fi ve, 10 minutes.
That’s why I was so aston-
ished,” she said.
Reta Griffi th said she
immediately attempted to
call 911, but the fi re already
had disconnected the cou-
ple’s phone line. After a cou-
ple failed attempts, the two
got outside as quickly as pos-
sible, where a crowd already
had gathered.
“I threw the phone down
and ran outside. I was in such
a panic,” she said.
Thankfully one of the
individuals in the crowd,
a neighbor, had alerted
authorities.
“I told her, ‘I can’t call,
my phone is not working.’
She said, ‘I already called
911,’” Reta Griffi th said.
Once on the scene, crews
worked quickly to get the
blaze under control, though
at one point there was con-
cern they were going to lose
the fi ght.
On the exterior, the dam-
age is extensive. A large por-
tion of the deck on the west
side of the house is charred
— so much so that Richard
Griffi th, in going back up to
look at the aftermath, hasn’t
ventured over to where the
smoker and barbecue now
sit because of concerns about
the deck’s structural integrity.
The attached garage also has
damage, and the soffi t along
the back end is blackened.
What the extent of the dam-
age indoors is is unknown.
Reta Griffi th said, other
than stepping back in to grab
a couple items since the fi re,
she hasn’t gone inside.
“It’s too depressing. I had
to go in once because the
police didn’t realize I had my
insulin in the refrigerator,”
she said.
Richard Griffi th said the
claim that he fell asleep — a
statement originally given by
Karvoski — gave an impli-
cation that he was negligent,
which both Griffi ths said was
not the case.
“I did everything I could
to keep the fi re in perspec-
tive,” he said. “I haven’t had
any problem, but this partic-
ular time, it caught the house
on fi re.”
The couple had the home
inspected by a fi re marshal on
Tuesday, July 13. They hope
the home can be repaired.
“I got out with my life,
(and) my wife got out,” he
said.
Major grants for Wallowa Resources, Building Healthy Families
By ANN BLOOM
For the Wallowa County
Chieftain
The Oregon Community
Foundation came through
in a big way for the youth of
Wallowa County with grants
totaling more than $120,000
recently awarded to two
local organizations.
Wallowa
Resources
received over $80,000 for
its summer enrichment pro-
gramming for K-12 youth
and Building Healthy Fam-
ilies received two $20,000
grants — one for its birth
to 5-year-old program and
one for its K-12 program.
The funding for each group
came from the Oregon Com-
munity Foundation’s Early
Child Care Support Fund for
Summer Programming.
The grants are one-time,
nonrenewable awards. The
funding is expected to cover
the summer programs, with
some possible carry over
into the fall. There is no
fee for participation in the
programs off ered by Wal-
lowa Resources or Building
Healthy Families.
Wallowa Resources
The funding opportunity
has been “amazing,” said
Lindsay Miller, youth edu-
cation manager for Wallowa
Resources. “It has allowed
us to start thinking big again
and cast our net wide. It
allowed us to bring two staff
up to full time and retain
them through the summer
and hire one additional part-
time staff .”
She said the grant
has expanded Wallowa
Resources capacity to help
with Building Healthy
Families, regional camps,
including Chief Joseph
Summer Camp and deliver
lessons to all three school
districts summer enrichment
programs.
In addition, the fund-
ing will go to support Cot-
tonwood Crossing Sum-
Conatact Elaine at 541-263-1189
Meet Copper
& Starsky!
A bonded pair born approximately
April 20, 2021. They are up-to-date
on vaccines, dewormed and are litter
box trained. These two cuties are from
different litters but cry if they are separat-
ed. They play all day and then want to cuddle,
give kisses and be with their human all night long.
Copper and Starsky will only be adopted
as a pair.
Available for Adoption
Contact Mary at 541-398-2428.
$110 adoption fee
Spay and Neuter included at Wallowa County Vet of your choice when of age.
http://www.wallowacountyhumanesociety.org/
Coleman
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www.colemanoil.com
Brought to you by,
mer Camp in Union County
and the popular Wallowa
Resources Exploration of
Nature program, which
includes day hikes and sum-
mer camps. Miller estimates
the programs will serve
well over 100 youth, “if not
more,” she said.
According to a press
release supplied by Wallowa
Resources Communications
and Outreach Manager,
Louise Shirley, the funding
comes at a particularly crit-
ical time. COVID-19 caused
immense stress and disrup-
tion in the lives of young
people, who experienced far
fewer social opportunities
over the last year and a half.
Miller echoed that sen-
timent. Besides providing
funding to rehire staff , the
funding has allowed agen-
cies to “bridge the gap due
to COVID. Most social
activities were cancelled,”
she said. “The focus now is
building back peer groups
without the weighted anxi-
ety hanging over them,” of
the pandemic.
“Our kids had the option
to attend school in per-
son” said Miller, “but even
kids who were able to go in
person experienced a dra-
matic change in their social
circles.”
Building Healthy
Families
Along with the funding
Wallowa Resources received
for their summer program-
ming, Building Healthy
Families is using its fund-
ing for such summer enrich-
ment activities as summer
day camps, summer lunches
at the park, Head Start Sum-
mer Family Engagement
Workshops and distribu-
tion of kindergarten read-
iness packets for its early
childhood programs. For its
K-12 programming youth
are engaged in movies at the
park, activities at the farm-
ers market, summer lunch
programs, a biking program,
academic enrichment pro-
grams and a summer day
camp program. The fund-
ing also helps with commu-
nity events such as the grand
opening of the skate park in
Enterprise.
When asked about the
impact of the funding on
the community, Maria Weer,
executive director of Build-
ing Healthy Families said,
“The emphasis is not on one
organization getting fund-
ing. The funds provided
expand the opportunity for
youth, it expands our pro-
gram and the reach. The
funds impact our commu-
nity. We’re grateful, very
grateful and happy for our
community and our kids.”
The OCF funding helps
Wallowa Resources with its
mission of providing pro-
grams that reach K-12 youth
educating them to become
future conservation lead-
ers and vital stewards of the
land.