TUESDAY
OREGON’S BIGGEST CITIES SET HIGH TEMPERATURE RECORDS: PAGE A7
In SPORTS, A8
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityherald.com
June 29, 2021
Local • Home & Living • Sports
IN THIS EDITION:
QUICK HITS
Good Day Wish
To A Subscriber
A special good day to
Herald subscriber Steve
Bachman of Baker City.
Local, A2
The Baker 5J School
Board has appointed an
11-member committee to
oversee the district’s use
of a $4 million property tax
bond measure that district
voters approved in the
May 18 special election.
It was the fi rst time vot-
ers had approved such a
measure since 1948.
Focus
Black, Red, Green
on fire
safety
Examining The Effects Of April Prescribed Fires Near Phillips Reservoir
■ Forest Service officials say they’re pleased with the results from
the fires, despite conspicuous scorched trees visible from Highway 7
■ Property owners along
East Eagle Creek form a
‘Firewise Community,’ the
second in Baker County
BRIEFING
City cutting back
on irrigation
By Joanna Mann
Baker City started Stage
1 of its four-stage water
curtailment plan on Mon-
day, June 28 in response
to rising water use amid
the heatwave. The city has
measured peak hourly de-
mand at a rate equivalent
to 8 million gallons used
per day. Typical summer
daily usage is about 4.5
million gallons.
Under Stage 1, the city
reduces water use at city
parks, Mount Hope Cem-
etery and Quail Ridge Golf
Course to 70% of normal.
There are no mandatory
restrictions on residents,
but the city recommends
these water-saving tips:
• Water lawns in the
evening, when evapora-
tion rates are lower.
• Run only full loads in
dishwasher and laundry
• Turn off water while
brushing your teeth
jmann@bakercityherald.com
With fi re season arriving early due to
drought and a record-setting heatwave,
some Baker County property owners are
working with their neighbors to reduce the
wildfi re risk on their properties.
One group has taken the extra steps
of achieving Firewise Community status
through the National Fire Protection As-
sociation.
Property owners in the East Eagle Creek
area, in the densely forested Wallowa
Mountains about 18 air miles north of Rich-
land, have created a Firewise Community.
Known as Eagleton, it’s the second such
designation in Baker County.
See Firewise/A5
Driver arrested
after nearly
crashing into
multiple cars
WEATHER
Today
102 / 58
Sunny
Wednesday
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Sunny
Kendall Cikanek, ranger for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest’s Whitman District, looks at
willow sprouts growing from the charred limbs of a willow tree burned during a prescribed
fi re on the north side of Phillips Reservoir in mid-April. Cikanek, who visited the site on June
22, said he’s pleased with the results of the fi re, which is intended to reduce the risk of wildfi re.
Full forecast on the back
of the B section.
By Jayson Jacoby
101 / 61
jjacoby@bakercityherald.com
The space below is for
a postage label for issues
that are mailed.
$1.50
Baker
swimmers
at state
T
revor Lewis is stand-
ing beside the black
skeleton of what used to
be a willow tree, and he knows
how it looks.
It looks bad.
Dead.
For drivers whizzing past
at 55 mph on Highway 7, just
a few hundred feet north of
where Lewis stands beside Deer
Creek, the charred limbs of the
creekside willows, and the rusty
orange needles of some nearby
ponderosa pines, are conspicu-
ous.
But it’s a different color that
draws Lewis’ eyes, and those
of his companions and fellow
U.S. Forest Service employ-
ees — Kendall Cikanek, Steve
Hawkins and Keith Dunn — on
the hot afternoon of June 22.
Green.
That shade is widespread in
this meadow between the high-
way and Phillips Reservoir, the
latter scarcely visible, so shrunk-
en it is by severe drought.
See Fire/Page A3
TODAY
Issue 21, 16 pages
A California man who nearly crashed
into multiple vehicles while driving errati-
cally in Baker City on Saturday afternoon,
June 26, resisted arrest after he pulled into
a parking lot following a brief chase.
Matthew David Post, 30, of Berkeley, was
taken to the Baker County Jail a little after
5 p.m.
Baker County Dispatch received a report
of a vehicle driving erratically on Campbell
Street, according to a press release from the
Baker County Sheriff’s Offi ce.
Deputy Talon Colton saw the 2005 black
Acura sedan driving north on 10th Street,
pulled behind the car and turned on his
emergency lights.
Post, who was driving, changed lanes
multiple times then pulled over on 10th
Street. When Colton stopped his patrol car,
Post drove away, continuing north on 10th
Street. He turned east onto Hughes Lane,
then pulled into the parking lot for the Or-
egon Department of Fish and Wildlife and
Oregon Department of Forestry offi ce at
2895 Hughes Lane. According to the press
release, Post “appeared agitated and refused
to exit the vehicle.”
See Arrest/A2
BLM enacting
fire restrictions
Jayson Jacoby/Baker City Herald
Forest Service offi cials say trees like this one near Phillips
Reservoir likely will survive despite having needles low in its
crown reddened by radiant heat during a prescribed fi re.
Classified ............. B3-B6
Comics ....................... B7
Community News ....A3
Crossword ........B3 & B5
Dear Abby ................. B8
Home ....................B1-B3
Horoscope ................. B6
Letters ........................A4
Lottery Results ..........A2
The Bureau of Land Management’s
Vale District is enacting more stringent
fi re season restrictions, including a ban on
campfi res, starting Thursday, July 1.
Cross-country travel with motor vehicles,
including ATVs, will also be prohibited; ve-
hicles must be on roads clear of vegetation.
See Restrictions/Page A6
News of Record ........A2
Obituaries ..................A2
Opinion ......................A4
Senior Menus ...........A2
Sports ........................A8
Weather ..................... B8
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