COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • NOVEMBER 14, 2018 •
3A
South Lane County Fire sends team to help with California wildfires
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
Using its emergency mo-
bilization plan, through the
Emergency Management As-
sistance Compact, the Offi ce
of State Fire Marshal (OSFM)
has activated its Agency Op-
erations Center and is in
the process of mobilizing 15
strike teams with equipment
and personnel to assist with
the Camp Fire in California.
Th e OSFM is send-
ing structural task forces
from the following coun-
ties: Rouge Valley, Klam-
ath, Douglas, Lane, Marion,
Linn, Benton, Lincoln, Polk,
Washington,
Multnomah,
Clatsop, Columbia, Clacka-
mas and Yamhill.
South Lane County Fire
and Rescue sent four indi-
viduals and a type one en-
gine to the state for 16 days.
According to Division
Chief Joe Raade, the team
can stay in the state for up
to 21 days but a conversation
would have to take place be-
fore extending beyond the
initial 16-day stay.
“Once again, our neigh-
bors in California are in
need of support, and even
though Oregon had a very
long fi re season, our Oregon
Fire Service has stepped up
humbly to help the state of
California,” said State Fire
Marshal Jim Walker.
California made the re-
GARY MANLY/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
quest through the Emergen- Firefi ghters from South Lane County Fire prepare to leave for California to assist with mu-
cy Management Assistance tual aid eff orts. Monday, a new fi re had reportedly broken out near Simi Valley, Calif.
Compact a national state-to-
state mutual aid system.
Th e EMAC request is sent
directly to Oregon Emergen-
cy Management who contact
and coordinate with the ap-
propriate Oregon agency to
fulfi ll the requests.
Raade said that while Or-
egon’s fi re season is some-
what distinct, California fac-
es wildfi res for much of the
year.
“California traditionally
does have fi res in the fall,”
he said. “It’s much diff erent
than in Oregon where we
have more moisture.
“It’s not unusual for Cali-
fornia to have fi res until the
fi rst of the year.”
Future of community meeting place ‘Healing Matrix’ uncertain
By Caitlyn May
cmay@cgsentinel.com
For small communities,
meeting places provide a sense
of community, open forums and
generate new ideas and oppor-
tunities.
Th ey can also lend them-
selves to rumor and, in Cottage
Grove, the rumor mill has been
spinning about the future of
the Healing Matrix — a public
meeting space on 7th and Main
Street with strong ties to several
local nonprofi t organizations.
And while the majority of
the whisperings around town
are false, one reality rings true:
It needs a save.
Currently, the 4,000-square-
foot building is owned by the
Taubert Foundation, and op-
erates as a catch-all for local
groups and organizations like
Sustainable Cottage Grove,
Team Cottage Grove, Be
Your Best, South Lane Men-
tal Health and area veterans’
groups.
“Th e choices are to sell the
building on the open market
but they would rather donate
it to someone with resources
to continue it as a community
space,” said Richard Sedlock,
co-director of Sustainable
Cottage Grove and board chair
of the Healing Matrix nonprofi t.
District, with the hopes of fi nd-
In an email response to Th e
ing an entity with the funds to Sentinel, SLSD Communica-
run the building but preserve tions Coordinator Garrett Brid-
the community space.
gens said he attended the dis-
cussions with superintendent
Larry Sullivan and other SLSD
representatives to share their
thoughts on the future of the
Healing Matrix and added that
the district recognizes and sup-
ports the role the facility plays
in the community.
"We are grateful that we
—Richard Sedlock, co-director
were
invited to be a part of
Sustainable Cottage Grove
the discussion and are hopeful
that the space will continue to
be used in a positive, impact-
various groups, including the
“We’ve had people from ful way in our community," he
city and the South Lane School the city, the school district, wrote.
the county and the nonprof-
“Nonprofi ts don’t usually
its,” Sedlock said. “Th e school have the big profi t streams to
district seemed like the obvi- support something like this,”
Aut
o Pa
ous choice but, because of the Sedlock said, noting that the city
y
change-over in the superinten- did not immediately show inter-
dent position, they can’t com- est in the building.
mit to anything like this for a
Th e development team has
while.”
also fl oated the idea of donating
According to Sedlock, a
small development team has
been hosting several discussions
about the building’s future with
“The choices are to sell the
building ... but they would rather
donate it to someone with resources
to continue it as a community space”
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the building to a parks and recre-
ation district. However, the city
doesn’t currently have a parks
and recreation district.
Sedlock noted that form-
ing a district would take time
— something he group is short
on — but an interim agreement
may help bridge the time gap.
Ideally, the owners of the
building would prefer not to
own the building by the summer
of 2019, giving the group the
remainder of this year and the
spring to fi nd a solution.
“It could be that there’s some-
one pretty quiet,” Sedlock said.
“Maybe an advocate, but not a
joiner, with some resources, who
can do something.”
Sustainable Cottage Grove
will be meeting at the Healing
Matrix on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 10
a.m., to discuss the issue.
Interested parties can contact
Sedlock at rsedlock ca@gmail.
com.
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