The Bulletin., May 13, 2022, Page 3, Image 3

THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2022 A3
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
DROPPING IN
Firefighters get rappel training in Grant County
BY STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
A rappeler dangles above the ground May 5 during the U.S. Forest Service’s national rappel certification
training at the Grant County Regional Airport.
The Grant County Regional Airport served
as the jumping-off point May 2-7 for essential
training for a select group of wildland firefight-
ers as the U.S. Forest Service hosted its yearly
rappel-certification training course.
Roughly 60 returning firefighters from Ore-
gon and Idaho dangled from helicopters hun-
dreds of feet in the air to practice rappelling, a
method of descending rapidly using ropes and
climbing hardware.
Adam Kahler, a national rappel specialist
who started as a rappeler in Grant County in
the early 2000s, said the training was one of
two annual recertification events the U.S. For-
est Service hosts each year. There’s also a rookie
training in Salmon, Idaho.
Rappel-trained firefighters are an elite group.
According to Kahler, the Forest Service has just
300 rappelers nationwide.
The training session, he said, is a chance not
only to come back and conduct crew training,
but it also provides an opportunity for multiple
crews — rappelers, helicopter spotters, and pi-
lots — to work together again.
Kahler said a rappel crew’s specialty is roping
into small, remote, quick-response fires.
All of the training is standardized. So, when
a crew is called out, depending on the loca-
tion, they can be on a fire in as little as an hour.
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
A rappeler dangles above the ground on May 5
during the U.S. Forest Service’s national rappel cer-
tification training at the Grant County Regional
Airport.
That’s why the training is so important between
the multiple crews, Kahler said.
“(Rappelling) is just a very quick, efficient
way to get people on the ground where they
need to be,” he said.
Two tornadoes in Eastern Oregon
uproot trees and damage buildings
The Oregonian
Two moderate tornadoes that touched down in East-
ern Oregon on May 6 uprooted trees and damaged
buildings, according to a National Weather Service.
The two tornadoes, both categorized as EF1, were gen-
erated by a severe thunderstorm that moved along state
Highway 204, the service said.
They occurred between Weston and Tollgate, which
are in the Blue Mountains northeast of Pendleton, at 1:40
and 1:55 p.m.
Tornadoes rated EF1 are considered moderate and
have winds from 86 to 110 miles per hour.
The first tornado struck about 8 miles east of Weston.
It traveled east through Umatilla County for about 1¼ to
1½ miles and was about 175 yards wide at its maximum
width. It reached a wind speed of 97 mph. It ripped the
roof off one building and sent it more than 300 feet, the
report said. The tornado also caused the roof and walls of
a farm to collapse.
The second traveled less than a mile, north of Highway
204, which is also known as the Weston-Elgin Highway.
It reached 104 mph in wind speed but did not damage
any property or structures, according to the weather ser-
vice.
National Weather Service
One of two tornadoes that touched down in Eastern Oregon on May 6 damaged
buildings and uprooted trees.
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