BAKER CITY HERALD • THuRsDAY, sEpTEmBER 1, 2022 A5
LOCAL
Blaze
Continued from A1
Firefighter discusses staffing
reduction
Contributed Photo
Obie Simonis, left, is helped by Brian Vegter, Corrine Vegter and Matt
Krabacher while installing a sculpture outside Churchill School.
Sculpture
Continued from A1
The stones were hauled to
the school by Superior Tow-
ing.
“We planned the placement
of them,” Corrine said. “Obie
picked which boulder he
wanted out front.”
Simonis designed his sculp-
ture in Boston, which he titled
“Mind & Matter.”
Although the rock re-
mained at Churchill, in Bos-
ton he built the stainless steel
triangles that will emerge from
the stone for a final height of
14 feet.
He shipped the triangles
to Baker City, and this week
constructed the piece with the
help of friends.
It will be unveiled during
the First Friday art walk, Sept.
2 at 5:30 p.m.
About the piece
Simonis said the title of
“Mind & Matter” comes from
the name of a book written
by his favorite Cambridge
University philosopher, who
has written extensively on the
philosophy of mind and lan-
guage.
Here is how he describes
the piece: “The ponderous,
craggy weight of the boulder
Obie Simonis/Contributed Photo
This is the sketch for “Mind &
Matter,” a sculpture Obie Simonis
created for the front of Churchill
School in Baker City.
is a solid, primordial pres-
ence, evoking the beginnings
of time. Ascending from the
rock, the precise geometric
elegance of stainless steel ele-
ments represent the concept
of mind, revealed in the ideas
and forms of mathematics,
science and technology.”
As for his decision on
the sculpture’s placement at
Churchill? He has an easy an-
swer:
“I went to first grade here,
it’s an artist-owned and devel-
oped art center, and because
of these two,” he said, speak-
ing about Brian and Corrine.
Casey Johnson, a Baker
City firefighter, said that al-
though he was gratified by
the response from all fire-
fighters, he believes crews
could have doused the fire
sooner but for reductions in
staffing prompted by City
Manager Jon Cannon’s plan,
which the Baker City Council
endorsed, to have the fire de-
partment stop operating am-
bulances as of Oct. 1.
(Baker County, which is
legally required to ensure
ambulance service, hired a
private ambulance company,
Metro West, to replace the
city fire department.)
In the past, ambulance calls
have made up more than 80%
of the city fire department’s
call volume. With the cessa-
tion of ambulance service, the
city has reduced the staffing
in the fire department from
16.25 full-time equivalent po-
sitions, to 10.5 for the fiscal
year that started July 1, 2022.
Johnson said that a year or
so ago, the department would
have had four paid firefight-
ers on duty at all times.
When the fire call came in
Tuesday morning, there were
two firefighters on duty —
Johnson being one of those
— along with a division chief,
Johnson said.
He said the department’s
policy requires that at least two
firefighters be stationed out-
side a building, as a backup,
before firefighters go inside.
Johnson said he and an-
other firefighter had to wait
— he didn’t have the precise
time elapsed, but the fire was
controlled within 28 minutes
— for two off-duty firefight-
ers to arrive before going in-
side the Balm Street home.
Johnson said that because
firefighters had a report that
the residents had left the
house, the situation was less
dire than if, for instance, they
had reason to believe there
were people inside the home.
He said it was fortunate
that the fire hadn’t spread
into the entire attic before
firefighters arrived. Had that
Photos by Samantha O’Conner/Baker City Herald
Baker City firefighters douse the burning home at 1895 Balm St. on Tuesday morning, Aug. 30, 2022.
been the case, the delay in
firefighters going inside the
home could have resulted in
more damage, Johnson said.
City manager’s response
In an email to the Her-
ald on Wednesday, Cannon
wrote: “I wish to express
my sincere condolences to
the family impacted by the
fire. Fire damage to a home
in most cases is devastating
even if the home is not fully
destroyed by the fire. Fortu-
nately, I understand no one
was injured and this is the
most important outcome of
the incident.”
“I would like to commend
the Baker City Fire Depart-
ment and Baker Rural Fire
Department for their re-
sponse to the fire at 1895
Balm Street on Tuesday, Au-
gust 30, 2022,” Cannon wrote.
“Division Chief David Blair
was the first firefighter on the
scene within approximately
5 minutes of dispatch. A res-
idential dwelling was fully
involved with flames coming
out of the windows of a cor-
ner room, flames in the attic,
and smoke throughout the
entire dwelling. Two line staff
firefighters arrived and began
rolling hose and preparing
water to fight the fire. Within
two minutes of arrival (7
minutes after dispatch) water
was on the fire.
“During this 7-minute time
frame Fire Chief Sean Lee
was on the scene to provide
additional command and
control. Division Chief Da-
vid Blair transitioned the fire
truck from truck water to fire
hydrant water and continued
to assist line staff with knock
down of the fire. The fire was
knocked down within 9 min-
utes of dispatch of the fire.
Additional BCFD paid part-
time firefighters and Baker
Rural firefighters arrived on
the scene to assist with fire
containment while additional
BCFD line staff were en route
to respond to the fire. Within
37 minutes of dispatch the
fire was contained and within
one hour and 10 minutes the
fire was reported as out and
firefighters and trucks were
leaving the scene. In total 11
firefighters from Baker City
and Baker Rural responded
to the fire with the first 4 ar-
riving from the Baker City
Fire Department station
within 5-7 minutes of dis-
patch. I express my appreci-
ation and gratitude to all 11
individuals who responded.
This sort of unified response
is important.
“Before and simultane-
ous to the fire, the new am-
bulance service provider
responded to medical calls
within the community mak-
ing it possible for every single
fire resource we had available
to remain on the scene and be
fully committed to fighting
the fire. Everyone played an
important role in taking care
of our citizens on Tuesday.”
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