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About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 5, 1977)
PAGfc 2 AUGUST* j, 1^1 fires, flood, Hail Hit Reservation Brief Storm Wreaks Havoc A few short moments of violent storming July 25 threw the reservation into a turmoil that could only be matched by a grade B disaster movie. Un like the silver screen, however, the effects of wind, lightning, hail and rain posed a contin uing threat and created many hours of tedious labor. Sudden high winds from the north brought welcome re lief to those suffering from days of sultry weather, but they also ushered in a storm of unusual intensity. Power lines were blown down starting a 20- acre grass fire within sight of the Fire Control Office. Lightn ing struck the timber and range country repeatedly, set ting off at least twelve differ ent blazes. Vernon Tanewasha of the Roads Department found hailstones buried underneath debris on Tenino Road two days after the storm 'July 25. power of the Fire Control Of fice. A glance out the window revealed a fire beginning on the sage and brush covered hill across the highway, but despite the proximity of the fire the fallen line made it difficult to approach. PP&L cut off the power and pumpers and men moved in to fight the blaze which spread rapidly southward ac ross the hillside. According to Larry Whalawitsa, Fire Con- troll Officer, firefighting was complicated by a westerly wind that arose and blew flames up the hill making it inaccessible by trucks. A heli- (Cont’d on Page 12) Hail the size of marbles and larger battered Kah-Nee- Ta and the upper Tenino Val ley, sending tourists and live stock for cover. And as if that wasn’t enough of a show, driv ing rain washed tons of rock, dirt and trees down into the Tenino Valley causing employ ees to abandon the Tribal Ad ministrative Center which lies in the flood plain below. Fires Thirteen fires, twelve of which were lightning-caused, burned simultaneously in all Helicopters Aid In Fire Control “It is expensive,” admits At recent timber and range fires on the reservation the Fire Control Officer Larry star of the show has been a Whalawitsa, “but in the long small but zippy helicopter run it pays for itself.” Caveman Helicopters out of equipped with a fifty gallon bucket. In an endless circular Grants Pass, in the person of flight .patter, the chopper fills pilot and owner Jim Hender its bucket with water, swoops shot, has been under contract over the flames and — if the with the BIA since the begin aim is right — douses them, to ning of fire season. The flying ace and his machine have seen the cheers of onlookers. a great deal of action in this For these heroics the heli summer’s fire hazardous copter and its pilot receive drought conditions. Commenting on the effi $169 a day for standby and $90 ciency of fighting fires from an hour for flight time. This is the air, Whalawitsa said, “They’re very good at initial the first year that the BIA has attacks and they get the water contracted for helicopter ser into inaccessible places.” The chopper not only puts vice on a regular, season-long basis. Previously aerial fire water on fires but also hauls fighting was requested only in equipment and manpower to sites. emergencies. corners of the reservation, from the northern fir country to the Simnasho rangeland to the Ponderosa Pine in the south. Two helicopters patrol led the entire reservation, as sisted in putting water on the blazes, and transported tools and men to fire sites. At least forty volunteers and employees of the fire control, forestry, roads, and natural resources departments as well as logging outfits, were deployed to con trol the active fires and watch for smoldering ones. Forty to fifty mile per hour winds knocked down a power line along the Kah-Nee-Ta Road at 4:00 causing a loss of Perhaps one of the most important although least flashy functions of the air service is to regularly patrol the reserva tion as a kind of flying log out. “He can cover the open areas so much quicker. He gets the jump on fires and has kept many fires small.” The Deschutes River area is patrolled by air on the weekends when the incidence of illegal campfires is apt to be high. Radio contract with look-outs and ground vehicles makes fast work of identifying and attacking a problem. Junipers blazed and paths of fire raced across the dry billside after high winds blew down a power line across from the fire control office July 25. A sudden storm brought winds, lightning, hail and rain, touching off fires and a flood. (Sandy Rangila Photo) In the sparing of timber and range land lie the savings that Whalawitsa sees in the helicopter work. “If he spots one abandoned campfire that could turn into a range or forest fire, than he’s more than paid for himself, espec ially with the dry conditions as they are,” remarked Whala witsa. In emergencies such as the lightning storm last week, ad ditional helicopter time might be required. Both fire fighting and reconnaissance were pro vided by Columbia Helicopters and pilot Dan “Marty” Martin when a dozen fires had person nel and equipment spread quite thin. Such temporary help runs a flat $260 per hour of flight. The BIA has no immediate plans to acquire its own heli copter. Whalawitsa indicated that since this is the first summer for full time air reconnaissance the desirabilty of such an in house service has yet to be determined. In the meantime whirly birds will be going where look outs and pumpers can’t — and perhaps even stealing the show. tei lir I ve (COYOTE NEWS) vo SPILYAY TYMOO STAFF Sid Miller Sandy Rangila Cynthia Stowell Managing Editor Assistant Editor Reporter-Photographer FOUNDED IN MARCH 1976 Tri am Cei big ere the Warm Published bi-weekly by the Confederated Tribe Springs Reservation of Oregon, Warm Springs, Oregon 97761. Any written material to the Spilyay Tymoo should be addressed to: SPILYAY TYMOO, P O BOX 735, WARM SPRINGS, OREGON »7761. P.O. Box 735, Warm Springs, Oregon 97761 PHONE 553-1644 ar« edu ing i ion Net tor TRAINEES Roger Stwyer Jolene Estimo tl coi ior Marla Patt Pilot Dan “Marty” Martin of Columbia Helicopters was called in to assist in firefighting and reconnaissance while thirteen fires burned or smoldered after the July 25 storm. Here points out a distant fire on Forest Service a while making a sweep of the reservation. I
