THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — 3A
LOCAL & STATE
COVID
WILDFIRE
Age Trends in Baker County COVID-19 Cases
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
For the period March 23 through
April 2, that age group accounted for
just 28% of the county’s cases.
Starting in early April the number
of cases in county residents younger
than 40 began to rise.
From April 3-21, that group had
55% of the new cases.
Meanwhile the number of cases
among people 70 and older — the
group most likely to become severely
ill or to die — has plummeted.
Of Oregon’s 2,508 deaths attributed
to COVID-19 during the pandemic,
almost 76% were 70 or older. In Baker
County, 13 of the 14 people who died
after testing positive for the virus
were 70 or older (the one exception is a
59-year-old man who died on Feb. 2).
The 70-and-older age group ac-
counted for 17.5% of Baker County’s
new cases from March 23 to April 2.
The group’s share dropped to 9.9%
from April 3-21, and to just under 2%
from April 15-30.
During the latter period there were
no cases in the county among resi-
dents 80 and older, said Holly Kerns,
a public information offi cer for the
county.
Total cases includes people who
tested positive for COVID-19 as well
as presumptive cases — people who
had symptoms consistent with the
virus and were in close contact with
someone who tested positive but
haven’t tested positive themselves. The
county does not list positive tests and
presumptive cases separately.
The 70-plus age group also has the
highest vaccination rate in Baker
County, with about 65% of county resi-
dents in that group fully or partially
vaccinated, according to the Oregon
Health Authority.
Although vaccination rates for
county residents younger than 40
aren’t available, the total number of
residents in that age group who are
partially or fully vaccinated is 777.
That’s 13.7% of the total people vac-
cinated in the county.
Younger residents, with the ex-
AGE RANGE
% CASES 3/23-4/2
4/3-21 4/15-30
70 and older
60 to 69
50 to 59
40 to 49
30 to 39
20 to 29
10 to 19
9 and younger
17.5%
10.5%
24.6%
19.3%
10.5%
8.8%
7.0%
1.8%
9.9%
13.2%
11.0%
11.0%
26.4%
4.4%
16.5%
7.7%
Although many of the
wildfires in Northeast Oregon
happen on public land — which
makes up half of Baker Coun-
ty’s two million acres — Wild-
life Awareness Week focuses
on the steps private property
owners can take to protect
their land and, especially, their
homes and other buildings.
The Baker County Inter-
agency Fire Prevention Team,
which consists of officials from
local, state and federal firefight-
ing agencies, uses the weeklong
event to remind residents
to take a look around their
property.
This is particularly impor-
tant for people who live in the
“wildland-urban interface” —
zones where homes are built
among, or next to, forests and
other areas especially prone to
wildfires, said Gary Timm, fire
division manager for Baker
County Emergency Manage-
ment.
Timm and other members
of the county’s Fire Prevention
Team urge rural residents to
make sure they have what are
known as “defensible spaces”
around their homes.
The basic idea is to avoid
having lots of combustible stuff
on or very close to buildings —
drifts of pine needles on the roof
2%
3.9%
9.8%
13.7%
25.5%
21.6%
13.7%
9.8%
Source: Baker County Health Department
Creating A Defensible Space
Centers for Disease Control
The following tips are from the National Fire Protection
Association’s website, fi rewise.org.
A depiction of a COVID-19 virus particle.
ception of health care workers, fi rst
responders, teachers and other school
employees and some other groups,
weren’t eligible to be vaccinated for
most of the winter.
Everyone 16 and older is now
eligible.
The largest increase in new cases
in Baker County since April 15 was
among people in their 20s. That group,
which accounted for 4.4% of cases from
April 3-21, jumped to 21.6% from April
15-30.
That was the second-highest
percentage of any group during the
period, behind only people in their
30s, who totaled 25.5% of the county’s
cases.
SIDEWALKS
bell Street from Birch Street west to Main Street.
The current lane striping from Birch Street east under
Continued from Page 1A
the freeway to the onramp and offramp for westbound
The existing sidewalks are narrow and have obstruc-
freeway traffi c, is four lanes, with a center turn lane.
tions, curb ramps don’t meet ADA standards, and there are
East of the onramp and offramp, the street has one lane
no bike lanes, according to ODOT.
in each direction, with no center turn lane.
The new sidewalk on the south side of Campbell Street
Although ODOT is overseeing the construction, Baker
will extend from Birch Street east under the freeway to the City will be responsible for maintaining the new sidewalks
offramp, where it will connect to an existing sidewalk that and ramps, which are slated to be fi nished by the end
borders the Grocery Outlet parking lot.
of June. The City Council approved an agreement with
The three-lane confi guration will match that for Camp- ODOT for the project in August 2019.
AID
Continued from Page 1A
When counties are at
extreme risk, indoor dining
is prohibited in restaurants
and bars, and occupancy is
severely limited in theaters,
fi tness centers and muse-
ums.
Bennett said the county’s
goal is to distribute the
money as soon as possible.
The money is from Oregon’s
share of the 2020 CARES
Act, the fi rst federal COV-
ID-19 relief package passed
by Congress in March 2020
and signed into law by
President Donald Trump.
Bennett said that unlike
previous disbursements of
federal pandemic aid, in this
case the county will require
applying businesses to at-
test that they have complied
with the extreme risk rules.
He said this will be a “self-
certifi cation” process, as the
county won’t be inspecting
businesses to ensure compli-
ance with, for instance, the
ban on indoor dining.
The application process
should be simple, especially
for businesses that have
previously received aid.
Baker County will move
to high risk starting Friday,
May 7. Indoor dining is
allowed under high risk,
up to 25% of capacity or 50
total people, including staff,
whichever is fewer.
U of O officials ‘disappointed’ about large
parties during Ducks’ spring football game
EUGENE (AP) — The University of
Oregon says it is “disappointed” to learn
about large crowds gathering for par-
ties during the Ducks spring game as
the region weathers a spike in cases of
COVID-19 and businesses endure new
restrictions.
Lane County, where the university is
located, moved back to “extreme risk”
on Friday, meaning that bars and res-
taurants were limited to outdoor dining
only and normal social gathering places
were off-limits. Capacity at a spring
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or in the gutters, or shrubs and
trees brushing against the sid-
ing, to cite a couple of examples.
Timm encourages property
owners to peruse the website,
firewise.org, run by the Na-
tional Fire Protection Associa-
tion, for tips about creating a
defensible space and other
tactics to protect property from
fires.
Timm also points out that
although lightning ignites most
of the fires on public land, the
percentage of human-caused
fires is much higher on private
property — about 70% of all
fires statewide.
He encourages everyone,
whether they live in an urban
interface or recreate in fire-
prone areas, to understand
restrictions in effect during fire
season, such as limits or bans
on campfires.
That information is avail-
able at the Blue Mountain
Interagency Dispatch Center’s
website, bmidc.org.
“Baker County Wildfire
Awareness Week is an example
of how fire agencies are work-
ing together to increase fire
education and reduce human-
caused fires,” Timm said.
“Baker County residents can
join the effort just by taking
time to refamiliarize them-
selves on local fire prevention
standards and taking action
around the home.”
game for the Ducks football team at
Autzen Stadium had been set at 15%
but the new restrictions meant no spec-
tators or tailgaters were allowed.
Instead, students packed into parties
at private homes. Photos and videos of
several large parties Saturday circu-
lated on social media, showing people
standing shoulder-to-shoulder and
without masks, The Register-Guard
reported.
The University of Oregon issued a
statement late Sunday condemning
FROM
$
$
the behavior but said there was little it
could do about parties at private houses
off campus.
“The university has worked very
hard to educate students about the
serious COVID-19 health risks of
gathering in groups without masks,”
the statement said. “This behavior is
not representative of the majority of
UO students, who we have seen work
diligently to follow health guidelines.”
IMMEDIATE ZONE
This includes the home or other buildings, and the area
within fi ve feet of the most extended part of the structure
• Clean roofs and gutters of dead leaves, debris and pine
needles that could catch embers.
• Replace or repair any loose or missing shingles or roof
tiles to prevent ember penetration.
• Reduce embers that could pass through vents in the
eaves by installing 1/8 inch metal mesh screening.
• Clean debris from exterior attic vents and install 1/8 inch
metal mesh screening to reduce embers.
• Repair or replace damaged or loose window screens
and any broken windows. Screen or box-in areas below
patios and decks with wire mesh to prevent debris and
combustible materials from accumulating.
• Move any fl ammable material away from wall exteriors
– mulch, fl ammable plants, leaves and needles, fi rewood
piles – anything that can burn. Remove anything stored
underneath decks or porches.
INTERMEDIATE ZONE
From fi ve to 30 feet beyond the most extended part of the
structure
• Clear vegetation from under large stationary propane
tanks.
• Create fuel breaks with driveways, walkways/paths,
patios, and decks.
• Keep lawns and native grasses mowed to a height of
four inches.
• Remove ladder fuels (vegetation under trees) so a
surface fi re cannot reach the crowns. Prune trees up to
six to ten feet from the ground; for shorter trees do not
exceed 1/3 of the overall tree height.
• Space trees to have a minimum of eighteen feet
between crowns with the distance increasing with the
percentage of slope.
• Tree placement should be planned to ensure the mature
canopy is no closer than ten feet to the edge of the
structure.
• Tree and shrubs in this zone should be limited to small
clusters of a few each to break up the continuity of the
vegetation across the landscape.
EXTENDED ZONE
From 30 to 100 or 200 feet
• Remove dead plant and tree material.
• Remove small conifers growing between mature trees.
• Remove vegetation adjacent to storage sheds or other
outbuildings within this area.
• Trees 30 to 60 feet from the home should have at least 12
feet between canopy tops.
• Trees 60 to 100 feet from the home should have at least 6
feet between the canopy tops.
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