W EDNESDAY , S EPTEMBER 2, 2015
• N O . 35
• 20 P AGES
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Saving Prairie City
THE FIGHT TO RESCUE A TOWN FROM WILDFIRE
Contributed photo by Audra Clark
As flames approaches the hills behind Prairie City, buildings in town glow in the fiery light.
The
Trial by fire
Grant County’s newspaper since 1868
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
‘You could feel the heat of the fire and
smell the smoke’
By Sean Ellis
and Nancy McCarthy
Blue Mountain Eagle
A
Between day and night:
The ¿ re neYer stRSs
generally around 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.,
though shifts can be extended based
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“It’s a nice, smooth transition, as
the incoming folks communicate all
the intelligence on what’s been done
By Sean Ellis
and where the hazards are and pro-
Blue Mountain Eagle
vide a situational awareness update
to the outgoing folks,” said John
JOHN DAY — Shift change is a Kennedy, an operations section chief
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behavior, trouble spots and weather contrast in energy levels between
conditions is transferred between day those returning from the front lines
and night shifts.
See SHIFT, Page A5
Shift change happens twice a day,
A change in shift for
firefighters is also a
change in mood
Dusty Harris
spends time at
the Red Cross
shelter set up
in Mt. Vernon
following the
evacuation of
portions of
Prairie City.
fter watching a raging wild-
fire consume their neighbors’
properties to the south and
west of them for two weeks,
Prairie City residents experienced their
own trial by fire last weekend.
It took only a switch
in wind direction for the
HOUR fire to turn onto the ridge
above the town, the
BY just
flames so brilliant against
HOUR the night sky that the
buildings below glowed
in the fiery light.
Streets filled with smoke. Ear-
ly-morning sirens scared residents out
of bed. Half the town received orders
to evacuate immediately; the other half
was told to prepare for evacuation any
minute.
In the smoky haze, headlights ap-
peared as a convoy of trucks and cars,
filled with prized possessions and ran-
Eagle photos/Sean Ellis
A convoy of vehicles heads
out of Prairie City on a smoke-
filled Saturday, after officials
tell
residents
to
evacuate
immediately.
dom household goods quickly thrown
into trunks, began moving west, down
the highway.
Meanwhile, hundreds of firefighters
headed east toward the fire.
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Here is that story, hour by hour:
See EVAC, Page A6
Contributed photo/Jim Soupir
A change in the weather Sunday afternoon reveals the blackened hillsides of the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness in this panoramic
overlooking the southern section of Prairie City form the east edge of town.
Buses, trucks bring donations from Sandy
Donated supplies
come from 19
western Oregon cities
By Sean Ellis
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — A nine-vehi-
cle convoy from Sandy dropped
off thousands of pounds of do-
nations Saturday for firefighters
and community members affect-
ed by the Canyon Creek Complex
fire.
The convoy, which included four
school buses stocked with basic
supplies and goodies, also dropped
off eight tons of hay for animals im-
pacted by the fire.
The donations were unloaded
at the Canyon Creek Complex fire
incident base on the Grant County
Fairgrounds.
The Eagle/Sean Ellis
Sandy residents pose for a group photo Saturday with
firefighters assigned to the Canyon Creek Complex fire. A nine-
vehicle convoy from Sandy dropped off thousands of pounds of
donations from 19 cities in western Oregon.
Fire officials learned about the
convoy and its donations “when
they showed up at the back gate,”
said Stacy Weems, Great Basin In-
cident Management Team public
information officer.
“Someone came in and said, ‘We
have four buses full of supplies for
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where can we unload them?’” she
said.
Sandy resident Pamela Botts
started organizing the donation drive
last Thursday and enlisted the com-
munity’s help. She was assisted by
her co-workers with First Student, a
private school bus contracting com-
pany.
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burning in this area, “We decided we
needed to help the eastern side of Or-
egon,” she said. “We want to show
them we love them. We just want to
show them we care on the west side.”
Nineteen cities donated items, in-
cluding clothing, socks, towels, lip balm,
sports drinks, snacks, energy drinks, foot
powder, multiple food items and 4,000
pounds of snack crackers.
See SANDY, Page A8