8A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL December 30, 2015
By the numbers:
Measuring the
2015 fi re season
COMMUNITY BRIEFS
Gamesquall
Gamesquall, an annual board, card,
miniature and roleplaying game con-
vention, returns to downtown Cottage
Grove’s Odd Fellows building this
Thursday, Dec. 31 beginning at noon.
Organizer Jake Boone, who dou-
bles as a City Councilor, describes
Gamesquall as a “’poor man’s’ version
of Portland’s Gamestorm convention”
that runs from noon Thursday until 2
a.m. the next morning. Guests can play
games from the extensive library that
will be available or bring their own.
The Odd Fellows Building is located
at 317 E. Main St.
From a news release provided by the
Oregon Department of Forestry
S
o, just how severe
was Oregon’s wildfi re
season this summer? About
838,000 gallons’ worth, ac-
cording to Neal Laugle, the
Department of Forestry’s
(ODF) aviation unit manag-
er. That’s how much liquid
retardant the department’s
air tankers dumped on fi res
in 2015. And that fi gure
doesn’t include the thou-
sands of gallons of straight
water dropped by ODF con-
tracted helicopters in close
support of ground fi refi ght-
ing forces.
The window of opportu-
nity in which to stop a new
blaze from growing large has
shrunk from days to hours,
due to the extreme sum-
mer weather and forest fuel
conditions. Fire managers
with ODF and the fi re asso-
ciations increasingly rely on
air power to even the odds,
launching air and ground
resources simultaneously,
which often shaves response
time to minutes.
ODF’s contracted large
air tanker can reach a fi re
quickly and deliver 3,000
gallons of retardant in a
single load. This slows fi re
growth and buys time for
fi re engines and hand crews
to arrive on scene and begin
direct attack. Single-engine
air tankers (SEATs) use their
speed and maneuverability
to box in a fi re with multi-
ple, smaller retardant drops.
All told, air tankers logged
more than 700 fl ight hours
this summer. The agency’s
helicopters put in 834 hours
slinging water to hot spots
with their cable-suspended
buckets.
FIRE
AVIATION
SNAPSHOT
Statistics currently avail-
able are for ODF- and fi re
association-protected lands
west of the Cascades. This
summer, most of the aerial
fi refi ghting took place east
of the Cascades (86 per-
cent), followed by southern
Oregon (14 percent), and
northwestern Oregon (less
than one percent).
In 2015, the Douglas For-
est Protective Association
in Douglas County fl ew 60
helicopter missions and also
assisted ODF’s Southwest
Oregon District and the Wil-
lamette National Forest. A
small plane fl ew 55 missions
that included fi re detection,
monitoring of existing fi res
and guiding air operations
(air tankers and helicopters)
over fi res.
The department’s South-
west Oregon District (Jack-
son and Josephine counties)
conducted 150 missions,
including air tanker and he-
licopter fl ights. Helicopters
performed air attack, helit-
ack (insertion of fi refi ghters
at fi res, along with making
water drops) and transport
of personnel and cargo.
Coos Forest Protective
Association logged 55 fl ight
hours on 19 different fi res in
Coos and Douglas counties
to quench the fl ames with
water drops. In addition,
CFPA aircraft fl ew recon-
naissance during lightning
events to detect new fi res.
ODF’s aggressive fi re-
fi ghting tactics can create an
“airshow” of multiple tank-
ers and helicopters over an
active fi re. When the meter
is running on all these air-
Tree pickup
The Kiwanis Club in Cottage Grove
will be picking up Christmas trees
starting Dec. 26 through Jan. 9. Dona-
tions are appreciated. Those interested
can call 541-556-2642 to schedule a
pickup.
912 Project
Lane County Commissioner Faye
Stewart will discuss the state of the
county and his bid for the U.S. Sen-
ate at the next meeting of the Cottage
Grove 912 Project on Monday, Jan. 4
at 6:30 p.m. at Stacy’s Covered Bridge
Restaurant, 401 E. Main St. The meet-
ing is open to the public.
‘Cowspiracy’ showing
Sentinel fi le photo
Helicopters were called in to fi ght the Cable Cross-
ing Fire near Glide this summer.
craft, costs mount quickly.
But stopping even one high-
potential blaze from spread-
ing to thousands of acres can
save millions of dollars in
the long term.
As an example, the
26,000-acre Stouts Creek
Fire in Douglas County cost
$37 million to extinguish.
And that is just for suppres-
sion. Damage to the forest
resource, which includes
timber as well as fi sh and
wildlife habitats, typically
totals at least three times the
fi refi ghting expense.
No one can accurately pre-
dict the intensity of future
fi re seasons. But the current
trend has the department, its
partner resource agencies,
and private forest landown-
ers scrambling to meet the
challenge. Aviation will un-
doubtedly continue to play
a major role in Oregon’s
fi re protection system in the
years to come.
Sustainable Cottage Grove will be
showing the documentary environ-
mental video “Cowspiracy” at the
Healing Matrix at 7 p.m. on Thursday,
Jan. 7. The event will be followed by
a question-and-answer discussion ses-
sion and is free and open to the general
public.
This presentation is part of a series
entitled Transition Talks: Films that
Inspire Discussion and Community in
Cottage Grove.
Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Se-
cret is a groundbreaking feature-length
environmental documentary following
an intrepid fi lmmaker as he uncovers
the most destructive industry facing the
planet today – and investigates why the
world’s leading environmental organi-
zations are too afraid to talk about it.
The Healing Matrix is located at 632
E. Main Street in Cottage Grove. More
information may be obtained by e-
mailing AhimsaAcres@gmail.com or
calling/texting Rob at 541-543-5735.
Free privacy
discussion
How do our principles about privacy
hold up in the world of corporate in-
formation gathering and government
surveillance? What are the costs and
benefi ts to living in a society where
almost everything about us is discover-
able and discussed?
This is the focus of “A World with-
out Secrets: Privacy and Expectations
in the Unites States,” a free conversa-
tion with Wendy Willis on Thursday,
Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. at Hard Knocks Brew-
ery. This program is hosted by the Opal
Center with Hard Knocks Brewery and
sponsored by Oregon Humanities.
Wendy Willis is a poet, essayist, and
national leader in civic engagement
and collaborative governance. She
serves as executive director of Kitchen
Table Democracy, a national nonprofi t
organization housed at Portland State
University and devoted to improving
democratic governance.
Through the Conversation Project,
Oregon Humanities offers free pro-
grams that engage community mem-
bers in thoughtful, challenging con-
versations about ideas critical to our
daily lives and our state’s future. For
more information about this free com-
munity discussion, please contact Leah
Murray at 541-946-7252 or OCAE@
opalcentercg.org.
Winter gardening
presentation
The Cottage Grove Garden Club’s
Tuesday, Jan. 5 presentation will fi nd
participants making garden art. Fused
glass sun catchers and other “dangling
pretties” for our patios and gardens are
one option. Cottage Grove’s Kit Por-
ter, a fused glass artist and instructor,
will be leading the group in the making
of glass ornaments. President Peggy
Severns will also lead in decorating
terra cotta garden pots using an assort-
ment of mixed media in painting and
gluing. For guests who wish to take
home their artwork, there will be a ma-
terials fee.
Members and non-members are wel-
come on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. at
The First Presbyterian Church (corner
of Adams and Third Streets).