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Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Fire and Safety Chief on board
The Warm Springs Fire and
Safety Department—providing the
community with 24-hour seven-day
fire and ambulance response—re-
lies on 21 full-time employees, ten
part-time and two volunteers.
Great leadership for the depart-
ment—as they handle emergency,
sometimes life-and-death situa-
tions—is essential. As Fire and
Safety Chief Scott Spaulding says,
“Our purpose here is to protect and
take care of the people.” And for
the past two years Fire and Safety
has done all this during the pan-
demic, only adding to the challenges
of the emergency response profes-
sion.
Chief Spaulding has been Fire
and Safety Chief for just a few
weeks now, though his work and
time with the department goes back
more than two decades years.
Chief Spaulding is originally
from the central New York region,
where he grew up on the family dairy
farm. It was there that he first be-
came involved in emergency re-
sponse, working as a volunteer with
his father on an ambulance squad.
In the 1980s he joined the mili-
Fire and Safety Chief
Scott Spaulding
tary, serving as a Corpsman with
the U.S. Navy from 1988 to ’92.
During his time with the Navy,
Chief Spaulding served overseas
during the Gulf War Desert Shield
and Desert Strom operations. Dur-
ing his time as a Corpsman he was
also stationed on the West Coast,
and this eventually brought him to
Central Oregon.
Moving to Madras 20 years ago,
he met the Jefferson County Fire
and Safety Chief, working with that
department, training as an Emer-
gency Medical Technician, and be-
coming a Paramedic. He first joined
Warm Springs Fire and Safety in
2001. Since that time he worked
with the department part-time and
full-time, depending on what else was
going on at time.
Then a year ago he took a job
with John Day emergency response.
However, Warm Springs Fire and
Safety this winter needed a new
chief. Earlier this year, Nancy
Seyler, acting Public Safety general
manager, and tribal Emergency
Management director Dan
Martinez reached out to Mr.
Spaulding, wanting to know if he
would come back to Warm Springs
as acting chief. This led to his be-
coming Chief of Warm Springs Fire
and Safety, starting late last month.
Chief Spaulding’s wife is
Michelle, who works at the Indian
Health Service Clinic. They have
two sons, three daughters, and seven
grand kids. And they work, as the
Chief says, “To protect and take
care of the people.”
Dave McMechan
BIA reforming
Corrections practices
The Bureau of Indian Affairs
announced a series of reforms to
the Office of Justice Services Cor-
rectional Program. The changes are
to protect the rights, dignity and
safety of those who are in custody.
After concerning reports about
the treatment of incarcerated indi-
viduals, including 16 inmate deaths
in custody between 2016 and 2020,
the BIA launched a three-month
review in the fall of 2021.
The review included the com-
missioning of a third-party report
to review current conditions in BIA
operated and funded detention fa-
cilities.
There are a total of 96 Correc-
tions programs funded by the BIA,
26 operated by the BIA and 70 op-
erated by tribes.
“As the son of a corrections of-
ficer, I value the wellbeing of all
people, those in our custody as well
as those responsible for providing
a safe and rehabilitative environ-
ment,” said Assistant Secretary for
Indian Affairs Bryan Newland.
“We will not shy away from ac-
knowledging the past and taking
ownership of the path to improve
conditions in our facilities. The re-
forms we are announcing today rep-
resent a new chapter for the Bu-
reau of Indian Affairs as we move
toward organizational culture
change.”
The report lays out recommen-
dations for the Interior Depart-
ment, informed by an assessment
of the thoroughness and effective-
ness of the 16 closed in-custody
W.S. Little League
needs volunteers
Warm Springs Nation Little
League is looking for volunteer
coaches for the upcoming baseball
and softball season. The Nation
needs coaches for T-Ball, Co-Ed
Rookies Baseball, Baseball and
Softball Minors, Majors and Soft-
ball Juniors. You can contact
Edmund Francis to learn more at
541-325-3856.
Senior meals...
The War m Springs Senior
Wellness Program offers meals to
Senior Citizens 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
on Monday, Wednesday and Friday,
for delivery or pick up at the
Greeley Heights Community Build-
ing. On Monday, February 28, the
menu will include Black Bean Chili,
Corn Bread and Fruit.
investigations. Questions are
whether the BIA’s current in-cus-
tody death investigation reporting
meets modern standards; whether
the incident investigations met com-
mon industry standards for proper
evaluation; and whether investiga-
tors have proper training and skills
to effectively investigate in-custody
death incidents.
Consistent with the findings of
the bureau’s review, BIA is moving
forward with more than two dozen
reforms focused on:
Updating policies and imple-
menting consistent standards across
corrections facilities;
Improving the recruitment, re-
tention, training and morale of staff;
and,
Improving interagency coordina-
tion with federal partners to ensure
safety for inmates and accountabil-
ity for correctional officers.
Assistant Secretary Newland will
soon further outline the reforms
that the BIA has undertaken, as well
as the overall culture change he is
overseeing at Office of Justice Ser-
vices.
February 23, 2022