BAKER CITY HERALD • TuEsDAY, sEpTEmBER 6, 2022 A3
LOCAL
Baseball
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expenses to form a permanent
baseball program.
The landlocked country,
which is almost five times
the size of Baker County, has
no ports, and while the other
countries focus on their eco-
nomic output as relative to the
good it creates for its citizens,
Bhutan adopted a model that,
instead, focuses on the happi-
ness and sustainability of its
people, young and old.
And from the videos and
accounts of everyone con-
nected to the baseball pro-
gram, the kids aren’t happy,
they’re ecstatic.
“What it is is that they’re run-
ning out of funds,” Kiefer said.
“Buildings are falling apart and
they rely on funding.”
Baseball is a material im-
port for a country that doesn’t
pursue material gains. Kief-
er’s fundraiser, which has a
$50,000 goal, has brought in
more than $5,000.
Bhutan maintains a capital-
ist democracy, one embraced
by the royal family and estab-
lished as recently as 2008. But
a typical retiree in America
has a net worth comparable to
royalty in Bhutan.
Bridge Between Worlds
Though Kiefer says she
didn’t play baseball in her
youth, the connection be-
tween the sport and Bhutan
started with another Amer-
ican, originally from Con-
necticut, whom she met in her
travels abroad.
“One of my trips I met this
gentleman, Matt DeSantis, the
guy who originally brought
baseball to the country in
2013,” Kiefer said. DeSantis
was eager to discuss how it all
Marvin Moore/Contributed Photo
Players in Bhutan often have to co-opt other fields to make room for
ballgames, a young pitcher here makes use of a prop pitching mound.
Karma Dorji/Contributed Photo
In Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, this baseball diamond was just re-
cently completed.
got started.
“Myself and my three broth-
ers played baseball outside day
and night, which is how I built
friendships with my brothers
and my father,” he said in an
interview with the Herald. “It
was an integral part of my life
with family and friends and
integral to the community.”
DeSantis was himself an ac-
complished player, competing
for Choate Rosemary Hall, the
Connecticut boarding school
he attended.
It was there that DeSan-
tis met Prince Jigyel Ugyen
Wangchuck, who was also
attending Choate and is the
brother of the current Bhuta-
nese king.
“We met on the basketball
court, we had a very compet-
itive relationship that turned
into friendship,” DeSantis said.
After the 2008 vote to
change the government in
Bhutan, DeSantis said Jigyel
phoned him.
“They were transitioning
from monarchy to democracy,
he asked if I could build some
systems for the government
for various ministries,” DeSan-
tis said. “I showed up for what
I thought was four weeks, and
eight weeks later I’m still walk-
ing across the jungle!”
The connection ultimately
inspired DeSantis to found a
travel design business in part
with the prince, MyBhutan.
com. On his first foray into the
country he’d expected only to
stay a short while, but, “Bhu-
tan became home. I’m one of
the longest residing foreigners
in Bhutan.”
DeSantis’ skills in com-
puter science helped him set
up the infrastructure of the
Bhutanese ministries and de-
partments following the new
democracy. During all this,
DeSantis found himself with
a lot of free time in the eve-
nings, so he set out to establish
some of the pleasures of home.
“Originally I’d only planned
to hold a few sessions, at the
time the plan was to have 5 to
10 baseball sessions, we posted
it in the city center on a con-
crete slab between track and
field,” he said.
He could never have antic-
Fires
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Wilderness since the Wal-
lowa-Whitman National For-
est instituted a policy allowing
lightning fires to burn natu-
rally. The Granite Gulch fire
burned about 5,500 acres in
August and September 2019.
The Eagle Cap, at 365,000
acres, is the biggest federal
wilderness in Oregon.
Besides the Sturgill and
Nebo fires, there are two other
fires, also sparked by light-
ning Aug. 22 or 23, in the wil-
derness. The Goat Mountain
Fire 1 is not active, according
to fire managers. The Goat
Mountain 2 fire is about 118
acres but, unlike the Sturgill
and Nebo fires, it did not grow
substantially on Saturday.
Sturgill fire
A group of firefighters is pre-
pared to protect buildings on
private parcels at Red’s Horse
Ranch and the Minam River
COVID
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April’s total of 13 cases was
the fewest since May 2020.
There were 49 cases reported
in May 2022.
Vaccinations
A total of 149 doses of
COVID-19 vaccines, primar-
ily the Moderna vaccine, were
given in Baker County from
Aug. 1-28, according to OHA.
That’s a slower rate of inocu-
lations than during July, when a
total of 249 doses were admin-
istered in the county.
Overall, 57.8% of county res-
idents 18 or older have had at
least one dose, the sixth-lowest
rate among Oregon’s 36 coun-
ties.
The five counties with lower
rates include two of Baker
County’s neighbors, Grant and
Malheur counties, along with
Harney, Gilliam and Lake.
Survey
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vaccine — one that targets
both the original strain of
COVID and lineages of the
omicron variant, specifically
the BA.4 and BA.5 versions
that are more infectious.
Results from the survey
will help the health depart-
ment figure out how many
more vaccines it needs to or-
Contributed Photo
The smoke plume from the Sturgill fire, in the Eagle Cap Wilderness,
on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.
Lodge, both west of the Minam
River. However, the fire re-
mains east of the Minam River.
There was “minimal fire ac-
tivity” on Sunday, according to
the overhead team’s update.
Nebo fire
On Saturday the blaze
Union County’s rate is 63.1%,
and Wallowa County’s is 69.9%.
The county with the highest
rate is Hood River, at 98.9%.
Baker County’s vaccination
rate is highest among those
who have a much higher risk of
becoming seriously ill or dying
from the virus — residents 65
and older.
Of the 8,480 COVID-19-re-
lated deaths reported in Oregon
during the pandemic, 67% were
residents 70 or older, and 89%
were 60 or older.
Baker County’s vaccination
rates by age group:
65 and older — 4,716
residents
74.9% have had at least one
one dose, 71.3% have had two
doses, and 50.3% have had a
booster dose.
crossed Big Sheep Creek and
crested Wing Ridge to the
north. The fire also burned
outside the wilderness toward
Forest Road 39. On Saturday
afternoon firefighters evac-
uated the Lick Creek Camp-
ground.
On Sunday, firefighters be-
55.3% have had two doses, and
28.3% have had a booster dose.
Ages 20 to 49 — 5,173
residents
42.5% have had one dose,
39.5% have had two doses, and
14% have had a booster dose.
Ages 18-19 — 291 residents
45.1% have had one dose,
42% have had two doses, and
11% have had a booster dose.
Ages 12 to 17 — 1,094 residents
28.5% have had one dose,
25.6% have had two doses, and
6.2% have had a booster dose.
Ages 5 to 11 — 1,362 residents
12.4% have had one dose,
11% have had two doses, and
1.1% have had a booster dose.
Ages 50 to 64 — 3,385
residents
58.3% have had one dose,
Ages 0 to 4 — 840 residents
3% have had one dose, 1.7%
have had two doses, and none
are eligible for a booster dose.
der beyond the initial ship-
ment, said Meghan Chancey,
the department’s administra-
tor. She encouraged people
interested in vaccines to fill
out the survey.
Results will also help the
department be proactive with
scheduling staff, she said.
“We’re trying to support
our community as well as not
overburden staff,” Chancey
said.
She said Baker County will
receive 300 doses of the Pfizer
bivalent vaccine and 100 doses
of the Moderna version —
pending the state’s approval in
the coming days — and will
order more based on interest.
Filling out the survey will
place respondents on a wait-
ing list to receive the booster,
and the department will then
contact them to schedule an
appointment.
Heat
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That, too, would set a new record for
the date. The current record is 96, set
in 1944.
This week’s weather — highs for
Tuesday and Wednesday are forecast
to be about 20 degrees above aver-
age — continues the torrid trend that
started around the middle of July and
has scarcely been interrupted since.
For the 55-day period ending Sept.
4, the temperature at the airport hit
90 or higher on 38 days. The high
was 100 or above on 4 days — the last
three days of July (101, 101, 100) and
the final day of August (102).
And even on the minority of days
when the temperature didn’t reach 90,
it usually wasn’t far off.
Of those 17 days, on just two did
the temperature not get to at least 80
— July 18 (78 degrees) and Aug. 27
ipated how Bhutan residents
responded to baseball.
“Within a week we had 400
kids, in two weeks we had 500
kids,” he said. “We decided
to keep running the sessions,
within a month 700 kids were
showing up to camp.”
Since then Thimphu, Bhu-
tan’s capital, has started its
own baseball club, the Thim-
phu Red Pandas.
Every new club has sub-
sequently chosen an animal
mascot, using some of the
proceeds from games to sup-
port wildlife conservation.
The program came to be
so successful that a national
poll recognized baseball as
the sport with the most public
interest in development, and
at one point Bhutan opted to
send an adult team to Japan
for an invitational.
Unfortunately, that same
year, 2015, a magnitude
7.8 earthquake shuddered
through Bhutan’s neighbor,
Nepal, and consequences were
felt as far away as the west-
ern side of Bhutan, damaging
homes.
“I think we would have
made an impressive appear-
ance, that plan folded and so
did the adult league following
the earthquake,” DeSantis said.
Since then the focus has
been on bringing baseball to
Bhutanese children.
gin building a control line
along the Wallowa Mountain
Loop Road (Forest Service
Road 39) to the 200 Road.
On Monday, additional re-
sources were assigned to as-
sist with fireline construction
and do backburns to reduce
the amount of fuel. The goal
is to keep the fire west of the
39 Road.
The following areas are
closed to the public:
• Use of Forest Service
Road 3900100 from the 39
Road junction to Tenderfoot
Trailhead.
• Use of Forest Road
3925015 from junction of
Forest Service Road 3925 to
Lick Creek Trailhead.
• Use of Forest Road
3900200 from the 39 road
junction to Forest Service
Road 3925015 road .
• Use of Tenderfoot Trail
(1819) from the Tenderfoot
trailhead to the 1828 and 1812
trail junctions.
• Use of Lick Creek Trail
(1809) from the Lick Creek
Trailhead to the junction of
the South Fork Imnaha Trail
(1816).
The Ground Game
As DeSantis and prince Ji-
gyel eventually sought out and
found outside support in sev-
eral venues, Jigyel ultimately
enlisted fellow Olympic com-
mittee member Karma Dorji,
who worked to help establish
the official Bhutan Baseball
and Softball Association.
Dorji, currently working
in Australia, gave perspective
especially on how the chil-
dren have been affected by the
sport as it grows, one commu-
nity at a time.
“It’s been a revelation,” Dorji
said. “I’ve seen firsthand the
impact of sports, especially in
truly young kids. It’s been a
very, very interesting obser-
vation to see changes in kids’
behavior, in mindset. Most
of all, kids who participate
in it in the capital city come
from rough backgrounds, the
coaches and I noticed they’re
being very proactive, coming
to training on time, bringing
food, they have to travel a dis-
Double Creek fire
On Saturday the fire spread
north along Grizzly Ridge and
east toward the Snake River.
To the south, the fire
moved down the Granny
Creek drainage toward the
Freezeout Road. Firefighters
are working to protect private
property along the Imnaha
River corridor, but they had
to take refuge several times on
Saturday due to intense and
erratic fire behavior, accord-
ing to fire managers.
Firefighters and evacuated
several groups of hunters in
the area.
Flames are also likely to
continue moving downslope
toward the Imnaha River
along Schleur, Adams, Col-
lege, Double, and Blackmore
creeks. On Sunday, firefight-
ers worked with task forces
tance of about 25 minutes to
get to a field.”
Even with the luxury of a
bus, the kids often have to do
some intense hiking to board
it, as many towns all but clinch
to the steep hillsides that make
up so much of Bhutan.
“During the lockdown, kids
were practicing in their back
yards!” Dorji said. “It was so
encouraging to see kids send-
ing us videos practicing, they
were doing it on their own.”
“A big requirement is equip-
ment, it’s expensive and not
easy to come by,” Dorji said.
“We’ve been very fortunate to
have guidance from Desantis,
Pitch-In, and Baseball With-
out Borders.”
Pitch-In and BWB have
been supplying the organi-
zation, and the World Base-
ball-Softball Confederation
has made it possible to offi-
cially certify Bhutan’s coaches
and umpires.
“Don’t mean to brag, but
we turned a high school soc-
cer field into a baseball field,”
Dorji said. “We did every-
thing as per the book, we were
dubbed as the highest altitude
baseball field in the world,
very neat.”
The program was further
bolstered by Texas coach Mar-
vin Moore, who has donated
his time and enthusiasm to the
kids there, pushing them to
competitive levels they’d never
anticipated.
If you would like to sup-
port the Bhutan Cultural Ex-
change’s initiative or know
more about the program, visit
the gofundme at https://go-
fund.me/2d5dc824, or visit
Kiefer’s facebook page www.
facebook.com/BhutanExperi-
ence, where you can see some
of her footage and learn about
Bhutan in detail.
from the Oregon Office of
the State Fire Marshal to pro-
tect property and infrastruc-
ture along the Upper Imnaha
Road.
Smoke
Smoke is expected to set-
tle in the lower elevations and
drainages in the early morn-
ing hours. Current air quality
information for the local area
is available at airnow.gov.
The air quality index in
Baker City on Sunday, Sept. 4
was 64, in the “moderate” cat-
egory. An index of 50 or under
is considered good. The mod-
erate range is 51 to 100.
Crockets Knob fire
The other major blaze in
the region is Crockets Knob,
on the Malheur National For-
est about 19 miles north of
Prairie City. The fire, started
by lightning on Aug. 22, has
burned 4,265 acres and was
20% contained as of Monday,
Sept. 5.
Samaritans
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“I was going to check it
out, and as I started across
the street it got a lot thicker, a
lot more smoke, and as I ran
across the street these three
children came out of a house
and I told them to get back.”
The danger was more seri-
ous than Bryan thought.
“I went around the back of
the building and the whole
back of the building was a gi-
ant fireball, and I saw a pro-
pane tank was a part of the
fireball,” he said.
Bryan, who has had some
fire support training for his
corrections officer job, said he
realized the propane tank was
a more immediate threat than
the burning porch.
“I immediately got the gar-
den hose and started to hose
(the tank) down,” he said.
Moments later another
passer-by, Landon Koontz,
rushed to help, grabbing an-
other garden hose and help-
ing Bryan douse the tank.
“As we were waiting for the
fire department, there were
some motorcycles on the out-
side starting to catch fire, and
we could see there was a lot
of flame inside the building,”
Bryan said.
Clad in shorts and flip
flops, Bryan said he wasn’t
equipped to go inside the
building. He said he hoped
(77 degrees).
This was the third-hottest August
on record at the airport, with an aver-
age high of 91.1 degrees.
The National Weather Service is
predicting slight relief late this week
as the ridge of high pressure that has
dominated the weather pattern for al-
most 2 months recedes to the desert
Southwest.
Under the ridge the air is generally
sinking, and that causes “compres-
Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald
Bryan Conklin of Baker City rushed to try to douse a fire at 3780
10th St. in Baker City on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022.
“I went around the back of the building and the whole
back of the building was a giant fireball, and I saw a
propane tank was a part of the fireball.”
— Bryan Conklin, who helped douse a fire at 3780 10th St. in Baker City
the propane tank wouldn’t ex-
plode before professional fire-
fighters arrived.
“It felt like forever, it was
probably a solid 10 minutes
we were fighting that thing
with garden hoses,” he said.
When firefighters from the
Baker City Fire Department
arrived, Bryan told them
about seeing flames inside the
building.
He said they had to wait for
other firefighters to arrive be-
fore going into the building.
“That really opened my
eyes about the fire depart-
ment situation,” Bryan said. “I
sional heating,” which boosts surface
temperatures.
The high pressure ridge, which
typically is centered around the Four
Corners region during summer, oc-
casionally expands into the North-
west, the pattern most likely to bring
unusually hot temperatures to Baker
County.
This summer the ridge has been
more persistent than normal, reced-
ing briefly for a couple days at most
walked up and asked the chief
about ‘where do I sign up for
fire volunteering?’ ”
He was referring to a re-
duction in staffing at the fire
department.
Within an hour Bryan was
back home with Shannon and
five children, and visibly con-
tent with his day’s work.
“It’s been a great lunch
break, I’ll say that,” Bryan said.
The 4,332-square-foot
building has a value of
$97,800, according to the
Baker County Assessor’s
Office. The owner is Jacob
Cooper.
and then reasserting its control.
According to the National Weather
Service, computer models have been
hinting at a significant shift in the
weather pattern over the Northwest
starting later this week, with a cold
front moving through, suppressing
the ridge and allowing cooler air from
the Pacific Ocean to sweep into East-
ern Oregon.
This isn’t likely to be a preview of
autumn, however.