Wildfires
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
A5
FEMA provides funds to fight wildfire
Funds won’t go to individuals or homeowners
SEATTLE — The Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency has au-
thorized the use of federal funds to
help with firefighting costs for the
Canyon Creek Complex Fire.
FEMA Region X Regional Ad-
ministrator Kenneth D. Murphy de-
termined that the fire constituted a
major disaster. Murphy approved Or-
egon’s request for a federal Fire Man-
agement Assistance Grant Aug. 14.
At the time, the fire was threat-
ening 300 homes around John Day
and Canyon City. Approximately
95 percent of the threatened homes
are primary residences. The fire also
threatened historic buildings, City
Hall, the courthouse, post office, li-
brary and other facilities. Mandato-
ry and voluntary evacuations orders
were issued for over 200 people. The
fire was 0 percent contained.
The authorization makes FEMA
funding available to pay 75 percent
of Oregon’s eligible firefighting
costs for managing, mitigating and
controlling designated fires. It does
not provide assistance to individuals,
homeowners or business owners and
doesn’t cover other infrastructure
damage caused by the fire.
The grant is provided through the
President’s Disaster Relief Fund and
made available by FEMA to assist in
fighting fires that threaten to cause
a major disaster. Eligible items can
include expenses for field camps;
equipment use, repair and replace-
ment; mobilization and demobiliza-
tion activities; and tools, materials
and supplies.
SHIFT
Power lines are safe for now
and those heading back out.
“When you’re heading
back out on a fire, you’re
obviously fresher; you got
some sleep, you got some
good food in your belly and
you got some coffee in your
system, so you’re a little
more revived,” said Jesse
Kiene, a Bureau of Land
Management
firefighter
from Medford.
During
your
shift,
“You’re ramped because that
shift requires your energy,”
he added. “But once you
drive off and you’re heading
back into camp, that’s when
the exhaustion sets in.”
By the time you get back
to base camp, “All you want
to do is eat and go to bed,”
Kiene said. “Those are your
two priorities.”
After eating and putting
down some coffee, “You’re
generally pretty excited to
go out there; every day’s
something new, and you’re
kind of excited to see what
might be going on,” said
BLM-Medford firefighter
David Way.
But when you’re coming
off a shift, he added, “You’re
pretty tired and general-
ly sore and just want to eat
as fast as you can and bed
down and get as much sleep
as possible, which some-
times means no shower even
if they’re available.”
While firefighters getting
off shift will generally filter
in to base camp at the Grant
County Fairgrounds in John
Day over a few hours, de-
pending on which area of the
fire they’ve been stationed
at, supervisors attend an in-
depth shift change briefing at
base camp.
After the meeting, super-
visors will share specific de-
tails with their crews about
what they will be doing and
where they will be working.
“The actual time of the
information transfer might
only be 15 minutes, but the
whole change from the time
people leave here and get in
place and the time the night
shift leaves and gets back
here probably is (about) one
to two hours,” said Canyon
Creek Complex fire opera-
tions section chief Jeff Surb-
er.
The shift change brief-
ings at base camp are also a
pep talk, safety exhortation
and weather forecast.
During the night shift
briefing that took place Fri-
day, about nine hours before
high winds caused the Can-
yon Creek Complex fire to
roar out of the woods and
JOHN DAY – Although
the Canyon Creek wildfire ad-
vanced and narrowly missed
Prairie City Saturday, Oregon
Trail Electric Co-op pow-
er lines are, for now, out of
harm’s way, according to co-
op officials.
“If the wildfire goes the
way that it looks like it is go-
ing to go, we dodged a huge
bullet,” said Ned Ratterman,
OTEC’s director of engineer-
ing and operations.
Two OTEC linemen were
among those ordered to evac-
uate their Prairie City homes.
OTEC crews closely mon-
itored the wildfire as it moved
away from power line areas.
There are no expectations that
it will affect power poles.
“There are no major con-
cerns on our part as of right
now,” Ratterman said. “But, of
course, all of that can change
in a heartbeat. We are in a
‘wait-and-see’ game, again.
But, we are definitely feeling
a lot better about the situation
from a power utility standpoint
than we were Saturday.”
Electrical power was ful-
ly restored along the Canyon
Creek Complex wildfire path
last Thursday.
“You could hear people
hooting and hollering in the
hills,” Ratterman said. “People
were shouting ‘thank you’ up
into the night.”
The lights came back on
Blue Mountain Eagle
Continued from Page A1
The Eagle/Sean Ellis
Before they begin a shift and after they finish a
shift, firefighters attend a briefing. The information
ranges from a status report on the fire to a pep
talk and caution to be safe.
threaten Prairie City, inci-
dent meteorologist Terry
Lebo warned supervisors
that strong winds early Sat-
urday morning could change
fire behavior dramatically.
Fire safety officer Paul
Gauchay encouraged them
to be safe.
On one hand, he remind-
ed firefighters that they are
“providing comfort to a lot
of families out there that
might need that assurance
right now.”
But he also added, “Keep
it in perspective. If it gets hot
in there, know when to back
out. Nothing’s more import-
ant than your life. Know
where those safety zones and
escape routes are.”
Neil Miler, who is in
charge of night operations,
reminded those at the brief-
ing that protecting lives, in-
cluding their own, is the No.
1 priority.
Firefighters are here to
stop the fire and protect prop-
erty, “but we’re also here to
come home every shift and
get back to our families,” he
said. “Make sure you have
an escape plan.”
A lot of the people com-
bating the Canyon Creek fire
have been fighting fires for
75 to 90 days now, and mak-
ing sure they get the proper
rest between shifts is a prior-
ity, said public information
officer Traci Weaver.
“If they’re not getting
that appropriate rest, that’s
when accidents happen,
that’s when poor decisions
are made,” she said.
Firefighters operate un-
der a two-to-one rest ratio,
meaning if they work for 16
hours, then they are required
to get eight hours of rest. If a
shift is extended because of
fire behavior, then those rest
2830 10th St., Baker City, OR
541-524-0122
EVERY OTHER TUESDAY
hours are also extended to
meet the guidelines.
“We try to get these peo-
ple rested so when they go
back out, their minds are
clear and their bodies are
ready to go,” Kennedy said.
“Firefighting is unique be-
cause you can’t make mis-
takes out there.
“The end state of a
bad decision could be a
life-threatening issue,” he
added. “The tempo is very
high out there, and they have
to have that clarity in their
minds on what the mission
focus is.”
“Alone we can do so little;
together we can do so much.”
- Helen Keller
There are endless benefits to becoming a
volunteer. Whether you can donate hours or
minutes, you are valued. Join us on September
3rd at 5:30 pm at The Outpost in John Day to
learn how your special skills can help Grant-
Harney County CASA.
Contributed photo
Crews from Oregon Trail Electric Co-op repair a
power line in the Canyon Creek Complex fire path.
through the efforts of dedicat-
ed journeymen working non-
stop, 18-hour shifts and in full
attack mode, Ratterman said.
“Journeymen are hard-
wired to go in and do what
it takes to bring the power
back up,” he added. “This
is their community, too.”
OTEC crews are closely
monitoring the proximity of
the fire to power lines in the
evacuated areas as a precau-
tion. Additional de-energiza-
tions may be required as the
winds shift.
A TTENTION G RANT
C OUNTY
V ETERANS :
Did you know a service-connected
disabled veteran is entitled to
FREE use of Oregon State Parks?
See your Grant County Veteran Services
Officer today for more information,
located at Grant County Courthouse.
Open Mon, Wed, & Fri, 10 am - 4 pm,
by appointment. Call 541-575-1631
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I am not sure where to begin - I am one of
very few who still has a home up Canyon
Creek. Why mine is not gone, only God
knows. I am so sad for all my neighbors
and friends, and pray daily for strength
for them.
I want to thank all the firefighters. The
OTEC crews that are working 15 hour
days to get our power back on. The
highway department that’s cleaning up
the roads and dangerous trees. Larry &
Jan Pierce for opening their home &
motor home to us and our animals, and to
Grant County for opening their arms and
wrapping them around all of us affected
by the fire up Canyon Creek.
God bless each of you.
GRANT-HARNEY COUNTY CASA
Bert Kruse
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