S PECIAL E LECTION
Voters overwhelmingly back Britton
Grant County
shows support
for 13-year
commissioner,
almost 2-to-1
against recall
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
Grant County voters made a clear statement Tuesday they
wanted to keep County Commissioner Boyd Britton in offi ce,
voting almost two to one against the recall.
The fi nal unoffi cial results obtained from Grant County
Clerk Brenda Percy showed 2,035 votes against the recall with
1,080 in favor. Britton, who has served as a commissioner for
13 years, could not be reached Tuesday evening.
The owner of a John Day welding business, Britton said in
his statement of justifi cation against the recall he has partici-
W EDNESDAY , A UGUST 17, 2016
pated in many county accomplishments, including tripling the
timber harvest, actively managing federal lands, creating Bates
State Park and maintaining fi scal responsibility.
He said the complaints against him by chief recall petition-
er Julie Carr of Dayville — failing to represent constituents on
road and access issues, refusing to call for an investigation into
the handling of the 2015 Canyon Creek wildfi res, failing to
recuse himself in decisions with agencies where he benefi ted
both personally and fi nancially and deliberately misrepresent-
ing his intentions of attending a community meeting Jan. 26
— were “baseless.”
• N O . 33
• 16 P AGES
• $1.00
Boyd Britton
www.MyEagleNews.com
C ANYON C REEK
C OMPLEX
Blue Mountain
‘Hindsight
is always
20/20’
EAGLE
Beverlin: Firefighting
a balance of safety
and aggressive
suppression
Grant County’s newspaper
since 1868
By Sean Hart
Blue Mountain Eagle
SAMMY KERSHAW
DELIGHTS COUNTY FAIR CROWD
Fair sells 1,200 concert tickets
Briana Renea
takes a selfie
with fans after
her set at the
Grant County
Fair Saturday,
Aug. 13.
By Rylan Boggs
Blue Mountain Eagle
C
ountry legend Sammy Kershaw played to a
packed arena Saturday night at the Grant County
Fair. He took the stage early and played a set full of
tributes, covers and crowd favorites.
Kershaw’s amicable stage presence, as well as
the beer garden, kept concert-goers entertained and dancing.
For the last portion of the show, Kershaw invited everyone
from the grandstands down into the VIP area to dance and
sing along.
The show sold over 1,200 tickets, according to fair assis-
tant Mindy Winegar.
“I believe the whole fair and the concert was a great suc-
cess this year,” Winegar said.
In tribute to Fair Manager Mary Weaver, who has been
diagnosed with stage four cancer, Kershaw played a Merle
Haggard song. Kershaw said he had lost a brother and father
to cancer, making it something deeply personal to him.
Kershaw was chosen by the fair because his tour dates lined
up with the fair and was in a price range the fair could afford.
Brianna Renea of Canby opened for Kershaw, playing a
series of covers as well as music off her own EP, “Red Lips,
White Lies.” Renea mingled with the crowd after her set, tak-
ing selfi es and chatting with attendees.
“The tour’s been amazing and a whirlwind of a blast,” Re-
nea said. “Getting to open for a national act is always amazing.”
Renea is no stranger to the area. As a child, she visited
OMSI’s Hancock Field Station in Fossil. She also played at
the county fair in Baker City and is planning to return for a
concert series.
ABOVE:
Sammy
Kershaw
cracks a joke
in between
songs at the
Grant County
Fair Saturday,
Aug. 13.
Eagle photos/Rylan Boggs
Sammy Kershaw plays during the Grant County Fair as the sun sets
Saturday, Aug. 13.
At a public forum nearly a
year after the 110,000-acre Can-
yon Creek Complex fi re in 2015
that destroyed 43 homes, Forest
Service offi cials said, knowing
what they know now, they would
have done some things different-
ly but that weather conditions fu-
eled the catastrophic fi re, which
could not be safely quelled due
to a lack of available fi refi ghters
in the region.
Malheur National Forest Su-
pervisor Steve Beverlin opened
the Aug. 9 meeting in John Day
expressing sympathy to those
who lost homes and said it has
also been diffi cult for the fi re-
fi ghters who battled the blaze,
about a dozen of whom were
present to answer questions
about their suppression efforts.
Beverlin asked people to be re-
spectful.
“It’s easy to second guess,”
he said. “Hindsight is always
20/20.”
The 2015 fi re timeline
Fire and Aviation Staff Of-
fi cer Roy Walker, who was in
charge of initial attack opera-
tions, gave a brief timeline of the
Berry Creek and Mason Springs
fi res that became the Canyon
Creek Complex. With extreme
drought, he said, the fi re season
had already been busy.
He said, out of four hand
crews who had been fi ghting an-
other fi re on the forest, he kept
three in the area in case of new
fi res — one more crew than bud-
geted in the forest’s fi re manage-
ment plan. On Aug. 10, howev-
er, he said Burns requested two
crews, so he released them to
Burns because they were not be-
ing used.
Early on Aug. 12, lightning
ignited 12 fi res in the area, he
said, including Mason Springs
and Berry Creek.
Walker said the Mason
Springs Fire north of Seneca was
reported at 7:18 a.m. Crews were
en route at 8 a.m. and on scene
by 9:45 a.m. By 2:07 p.m., he
said, a bulldozer had constructed
line around the entire fi re perim-
eter and planes had dropped re-
tardant around the fi re, as well.
To the north, he said, the
Berry Creek Fire was reported
at 7:27 a.m. By 8:50 a.m., para-
chuting smokejumpers and two
See FIRE, Page A8
PC resident saves friend from fi re
Deck blaze could have been deadly
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Something didn’t look
quite right to Carol Pur-
vis of Prairie City as she
drove past her friend Cher-
yl Neault’s home on her
way to work Tuesday, Aug.
2.
“I thought it was weird
Halloween lights,” Purvis
said.
She had a feeling she
needed to turn around
and check, and doing so
likely saved her friend
from a disastrous house
fire.
It was a little before 5
a.m., and Purvis was on her
way to work in Unity as
she passed Neault’s house,
about 3 miles east of Prai-
rie City.
Neault was sound asleep
when her friend knocked on
the door.
“She came to the front
door and said, ‘Your house
is on fire,’” Neault said.
Neault used a fire extin-
guisher and then a garden
hose to douse the flames
on the wooden back porch.
Her husband, Dan, was at
work.
It had been hot the pre-
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Earlier this month, Carol Purvis, left, saved her
friend Cheryl Neault from what could have turned
into a disastrous house fire.
vious day, and there was a
flower box with bark dust
on the back porch that
caught fire.
The Rail Fire between
Unity and Prairie City had
been reported two days
before, and Purvis said it
had left her car covered
in ashes while she was at
work.
Neault still doesn’t
know what caused the fire.
“If it hadn’t been for her
(Purvis), our house would
have burned down, possi-
bly with me in it,” Neault
said.
The two have known
each other for 30 years.
“I tried to tell her, it
wasn’t me — something
got me to turn around,”
Purvis said. “Everything
worked out great.”