WEDNESDAY • June 30, 2021 • Serving Central Oregon since 1903 • $1.50
SPORTS PULLOUT, A5-8
Redmond brush fire closes airport
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
A brush fire Tuesday after-
noon in Redmond grew to
50-100 acres as the tempera-
ture soared to 111 degrees.
The fire, which started
just after 2 p.m. near the
Redmond Air Center, was
initially reported as be-
ing larger, but fire officials
downgraded the size Tues-
day evening.
The Redmond Airport
closed to air travel Tuesday
afternoon, and one opera-
tions building on the north
side of the airport property
was evacuated, said Zach
Bass, airport director. The
terminal was not evacuated,
but flights were diverted, de-
layed or canceled, Bass said.
He said air travel would re-
sume when fire crews say
it’s safe.
Firefighters had ear-
lier contained a smaller
brush fire, called the Ant-
ler Fire, that started around
12:15 p.m. on Tuesday in
Redmond near SE Ever-
green Avenue off state High-
way 126, according to Ken
Kehmna, Redmond’s Fire
chief.
State Highway 126 was
closed in the area on Tues-
day. One lane of the high-
way reopened just before
6 p.m. The causes of both
fires are under investiga-
tion, Kehmna said. The fire
is near several homeless en-
campments, which have had
to be evacuated. Kehmna
did not have an estimate
for the number of homeless
people affected.
See Redmond / A4
Heat dome,
winds, climate
change come
together for
higher temps
BY MATTHEW CAPPUCCI
AND JASON SAMENOW
The Washington Post
Record-breaking heat
Weather service: 100-degree days still ahead, but mercury has peaked
BY KYLE SPURR • The Bulletin
Temperatures have never been this hot in the High Desert,
but that hasn’t stopped arborists with Central Oregon Tree
Experts.
The tree-trimming crews, along with other landscaping
and maintenance companies, have adjusted their schedules a
couple hours earlier to 6 a.m. and finished jobs before the heat
of the day, which in Bend Tuesday was a high of 109 degrees.
“We are trying to get things go-
ing early,” said Brett Miller, owner
of Central Oregon Tree Experts.
“It’s actually pleasant at that time
of day.”
Miller’s company has stayed
busy through the record heat
wave, which led the National
Weather Service in Pendleton
on Tuesday to extend an exces-
sive heat warning for the region
through the Fourth of July.
Most of the arborist jobs lately
have been for fire mitigation. Mill-
er’s crews remove dried brush and
tree limbs from homes to help
prevent the spread of a wildfire.
“It helps in case somebody
tosses a cigarette out in your
neighborhood,” Miller said.
“That’s all it takes right now.”
See Record heat / A4
BELOW: An aerial view of the Deschutes River in Bend on Sunday, as a
historic heat wave began to grip Central Oregon. The temperature in Bend
was 104. Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin
Temperatures across the Pacific
Northwest have spiked to unheard-of
levels while populations struggle to cope.
Canada shattered its all-time tem-
perature record Monday when Lytton,
British Columbia, shot up to 118 degrees
— higher than any temperature ever ob-
served in Las Vegas.
The ongoing event affecting the
northwestern United States and adja-
cent Canada is firmly within uncharted
territory because of a combination
of weather effects and climate-driven
warming.
Heat dome
At its core, this event is being driven
by an exceptionally strong heat dome.
Heat domes, or sprawling ridges of high
pressure, are a staple of summertime.
They bring copious sunshine and sink-
ing air that heats up as it is compressed.
This particular heat dome is unprec-
edented for its strength in the Pacific
Northwest. It has blown away records
based on measurements from 3 miles
high in the sky down to the ground.
This heat dome may have been
pumped up by a tropical storm in the
Pacific interacting with the jet stream
last week, said Oregon’s state climatolo-
gist, Larry O’Neill.
The timing of the heat dome has
helped maximize its impact. Because it is
occurring near the summer solstice, the
added daylight is giving the heat dome
extra time to increase temperatures, said
Rebecca Muessle, a meteorologist at
the National Weather Service office in
Portland.
See Heat dome / A14
Bend teen dies
in truck crash
at Wickiup
Reservoir
BY BRENNA VISSER
The Bulletin
BY DYLAN JEFFERIES
The Bulletin
The two homeless men who
died over the weekend as a heat
wave scorched a camp in Bend
were identified by the Deschutes
County District Attorney’s Office as
Joseph Davis, 60, and Alonzo “Lon-
nie” Boardman, 64. The Deschutes
County Medical Examiner will de-
termine the manner and cause of
death, according to a statement
Tuesday from the district attorney’s
office, which also said the families of
both men had been notified. Central
TODAY’S
WEATHER
Oregon has been in the grip of a heat
wave that began Sunday, when the
bodies of the men were discovered
and temperatures rose to 104. Some
activists and homeless outreach
workers are worried that triple -digit
temperatures and a lack of proper
shelter played a role in the deaths.
Bend Police do not suspect any foul
play.
Jackie Capasso, who has lived
at the homeless camp on Hunnell
Road on Bend’s north end since Oc-
tober, said she knew Davis for 15
years and Boardman for five.
Sunny
High 102, Low 62
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“I knew both of them,” she said
Tuesday. “They were both good
men.”
Capasso said Boardman hailed
from South Dakota and was known
for having a sharp wit and making
people laugh.
“Life was just coming together for
Lonnie,” she said. “He had just got-
ten a camper. But the heat bothered
Lonnie. He kept saying how the heat
made his heart hurt.”
Capasso described Joe, a wheel-
chair user who had recently moved
to Hunnell Road from Emerson Av-
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enue, as the “nicest guy” who had a
“big heart.”
“Joe was a lone spirit,” she said.
“He tried to help people out.”
A memorial was planned for
Tuesday night for both men by Hun-
nell Road residents who knew them,
Capasso said.
News of the men’s deaths and the
unabating heat wave sparked in-
creased community outreach across
Bend to help get people experienc-
ing homelessness the resources they
need to stay safe.
See Deaths / A4
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Reporter: 541-633-2160, bvisser@bendbulletin.com
The Bulletin
An Independent Newspaper
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Vol. 117, No. 329, 14 pages, 1 section
DAILY
Neighbors remember 2 men who died in
Bend homeless camp during heat wave
A 17-year-old Bend resident has been
charged with criminally negligent homi-
cide after allegedly driving recklessly at
Wickiup Reservoir, which resulted in the
death of a 16-year-old Bend boy.
Just before midnight on Monday, the
Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office re-
ceived a report of a crash at Wickiup
Reservoir, where a vehicle was underwa-
ter with people inside.
The Ford F-150 was completely un-
der water when deputies arrived, accord-
ing to the sheriff’s office. Five people, all
minors, were in the truck at the time of
the accident, and all but one had been
able to get out, according to the sheriff’s
office.
Two passengers had serious inju-
ries and were transported to St. Charles
Bend. A third suffered injuries not con-
sidered life -threatening.
An investigation determined the
driver was driving under the influence of
alcohol and was driving recklessly on the
lake bed, according to the sheriff’s office.
In addition to criminally negligent ho-
micide, the driver is charged with driv-
ing under the influence of alcohol, reck-
less endangering and reckless driving.
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