A6
Wildfires
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Governor activates National Guard
Brown sends for troops during visit to Canyon Creek
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — A contin-
gent of 125 Oregon National
Guard members will arrive in
John Day Wednesday, Aug.
26, to helS ¿ght the &anyon
&reeN &omSle[ ¿re.
The soldiers underwent
training at the Department
of Public Safety Standards
and Training in Salem before
heading to John Day.
They will assist ¿rst re-
sponders, initial attacN con-
tract crews and ¿re managers.
The soldiers come from
units across the state, includ-
ing 22 Engineering &ompa-
ny, 1-186 Infantry Battalion,
1-82 &avalry, 11 Brigade
Support Battalion and 1249
Engineer &ompany.
They join soldiers from
&harlie -158 Aviation,
DRESS
Continued from Page A1
“There’s not a sticN of
wood left in the place, and the
windows melted,” MiNe said.
Sherry pointed out the ar-
eas where her now grown chil-
dren had their bedrooms. The
boys stayed downstairs where
their loud music could be at a
distance, she said with a smile.
In what was the room
where Sherry, who has deliv-
ered 2,900 babies in her ca-
reer, stands a blacNened, metal
portion of a birthing chair. She
also owns the Naturally Yours
health food store in John Day.
and Army and Air Nation-
al Guard Joint Staff, which
have been participating in
¿re¿ghting efforts in Oregon
since Aug. 3.
Gov. Kate Brown, while
in John Day visiting the
&anyon &reeN &omple[ ¿re
camp Aug. 19, authorized the
activation of 250 Oregon Na-
tional Guard members to as-
sist with ongoing ¿re¿ghting
efforts throughout the state.
The additional 250 volun-
teers are composed of Ore-
gon Guard units from around
the state. Half of the addi-
tional guard members are cit-
izen-airmen from the 142nd
Fighter Wing in Portland and
the 13rd Fighter Wing in
Klamath Falls.
The other half of the addi-
tional Guard members come
from the Oregon Army Na-
tional Guard’s 41st Infantry
Brigade &ombat Team.
The additional personnel
are scheduled to report to the
Department of Public Safe-
ty Standards and Training in
Salem to undergo ¿re¿ghting
training starting Wednesday
and should complete their
training by Sunday.
The Oregon National
Guard has an ongoing agree-
ment with the Oregon De-
partment of Forestry Nnown
as Operation Plan SmoNey,
which stipulates how Ore-
gon National Guard members
will be used to assist in annu-
al ¿re¿ghting.
During the governor’s
brief tour of the ¿re camp, she
said, “We really appreciate
the incredible worN our ¿rst
responders are doing.”
A clinic, library and pharma-
cy, where she stored 5,000
homeopathic remedies, were
also lost to the ¿re.
A new 9,000 walN-in
bathtub was purchased and
placed in the basement the day
before the ¿re, to help care for
her elderly and cancer patients
who would visit. It, too, was
destroyed.
The day the ¿re broNe out,
Sherry was in La Grande to
deliver a baby.
MiNe, who was at home,
said he saw a puff of smoNe,
across Highway 395 South
from their house, on the ridge
north of Berry &reeN. It was
the Berry &reeN ¿re.
He climbed a hill to taNe
a picture that day, and by
the time he descended and
reached his house, he felt a
hot wind blowing; it was the
Mason Spring ¿re, and Àames
were coming down the hill
above his home.
MiNe said he’d Nnown
about the Mason Spring ¿re
but thought it was only 10
acres and a safe distance away.
The day’s forecast called
for south to southwest winds,
gusting to 35 mph.
“I remember thinNing, µI
hope they get that out,’” he
said.
He tooN his ¿rst picture at
11:32 a.m.
“The winds always picN up
around 11 a.m.,” he said.
The Eagle/George Plaven
Gov. Kate Brown visited the Incident Command Center of the Canyon Creek
Complex fire Wednesday, Aug. 19, in John Day.
He had a plan to start the
sprinNlers that were on the
roof and run down to their
large ¿sh pond.
But while MiNe was on
the roof, Grant &ounty Sher-
iff reserve deputy Ken Olson
pulled up and yelled at him to
leave.
Later, from the safety of
the John Day home where
Sherry’s sons, &had and Bret
Lauer, live, MiNe heard it was
only ¿ve minutes from the
time he left that his home be-
came engulfed in Àames.
Sherry said &had, a wild-
land ¿re¿ghter, was ¿rst to tell
them the house was gone, and
he was devastated. He wished
he could have helped, but he
had been assigned to a differ-
ent ¿re.
Besides their home, the
Dresses lost many possessions
in the ¿re, including collectors
coins, vehicles and a couple of
travel trailers.
However, MiNe’s metal
shop building and the tools in-
side are intact, and red peppers
are still growing in Sherry’s
garden.
All of their cats and dogs
survived, but they are still
searching for their older Per-
sian cat, Fluffy.
Although they’ve lost so
much, Sherry said they have
family and friends to support
them, and they were insured.
Sherry said they’re less
concerned about themselves
and more worried about oth-
ers whose ¿nancial situation
forced them to choose be-
tween health insurance and
home insurance and who
won’t be able to rebuild.
MiNe and Sherry found a
rental on the west side of John
Day for now.
“I don’t want to go bacN,”
Sherry said. “The reason we
lived up the canyon was be-
cause it was so beautiful.”
They thought about mov-
ing out of the area but decided
against it.
“We’ve been here for 30 to
35 years in this community,”
she said. “We’re going to stay
here.”
Church Services In Grant County