NEWS
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Firefighters make progress on local fires
Dixie Creek Fire
near Prairie City
25% contained
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Firefighters have made
progress on the Dixie Creek
Fire north of Prairie City.
The fire 3.4 miles northwest
of Prairie City was 25% con-
tained on Monday, according
to an Oregon Department of
Forestry press release. The fire
has burned approximately 541
acres of grass, brush and timber
within lands protected by ODF
and the Prairie City Rural Fire
Department.
ODF said the fire was
reported just before 2 p.m.
on Saturday. Air and ground
resources were able to stop the
fire late in the evening on Sat-
urday and have kept the fire
within the same footprint since
the report.
ODF noted Monday that
fire personnel patrolled the fire
on Sunday and monitored for
any changes to fire behavior or
areas of concern to keep the fire
contained.
The fire, which prompted
Prairie City to cancel its fire-
works show, is under the com-
mand of the High Desert Inter-
agency Type 3 Team, under the
leadership of Incident Com-
press release noted.
According to ODF, fire
crews will be “at-the-ready”
should additional fires spark
from the predicted lightning.
An ODF incident manage-
ment team took command of
the fire Monday and relieved
local assets battling the blaze
Contributed photo since June 30.
The Dixie Creek Fire burns 3.4 miles northwest of Prairie City. The
ODF said that temperatures
fire was 25% contained Monday.
forecast to return 100 degrees
in the coming days prompted
mander Tim Boyce.
looned to 448 acres and has the team to highlight safety for
moved chiefly south away firefighters and heat-related ill-
Lovlett Corral Fire
from Mitchell and surrounding nesses. According to the press
The Lovlett Corral Fire 10.8 areas as fire managers and the release, there have not been
miles northwest of Monument Wheeler County sheriff remain any accidents or injuries.
is approximately 137 acres and confident that there is no threat
During an in-briefing for
is now 95% contained. Fire to the communities.
the team on Monday, Wheeler
behavior has been minimal,
According to a Tuesday County Commissioner Rick
primarily consisting of smol- press release from the Oregon Shaffer said he has lived in the
dering and creeping.
Department of Forestry, the county for upwards of 70 years
Firefighters continued to winds calmed down overnight and had never seen it this dry.
strengthen containment lines and allowed fire crews to hold
“You think you’ve caught
and completed mop up activ- the fire in check.
the fire, and then you hear on
ities farther into the interior of
ODF’s press release noted the radio that there are spots
the fire perimeter. Mopping up that, while an overnight infra- across the line,” Shaffer said.
includes searching for pock- red flight detected heat close “It’s just really dry out there.”
ets of heat, digging out the heat to containment lines, firefight-
Bologna Fire
source and cooling with water. ers have established hose lays
The Bologna Fire, burn-
Where containment lines along much of the fire’s perim-
are secured, firefighters also eter and are beginning to mop ing on private ownership and
completed suppression repair up toward the interior to pre- Prineville District Bureau of
Land Management lands near
(such as constructing water vent spot fires.
Fire crews are working Spray, is 75% contained. The
bars to help reduce erosion
potential) based on identified against the clock as thunder- fire will have one crew and
storms are expected to develop one engine assigned to the fire.
rehabilitation needs.
over the area over the next They will be working to find
Lewis Rock Fire
week, bringing the threat of any hot spots within the perim-
The Lewis Rock Fire bal- lightning and erratic winds, the eter and monitoring the fire.
A5
Contributed photo
Michael Wenzel, 55,
of Dayville reported
he was working on
a headlight issue
when his pickup
began to roll back
down the roadway,
dragging him along.
Sheriff’s office responds
to multiple incidents
Crashes, fires and
an unattended death
June 30 was a busy day
for the Grant County Sheriff’s
Office with a vehicle incident,
motorcycle crash, fires and an
unattended death.
The eventful day began with
a call for a vehicle that was
reported as teetering precari-
ously over a steep road bank
about 2 miles up the South Fork
of the John Day River, accord-
ing to a press release from Sher-
iff Todd McKinley.
Michael Wenzel, 55, of
Dayville reported he got out
of his pickup at about 10 p.m.
to work on a headlight issue
when the vehicle started roll-
ing back down the road. Wen-
zel attempted to stop the vehicle
and was drug down the road-
way by it, narrowly escaping
serious injury when the vehicle
went over the embankment.
The vehicle was removed
without incident, and no prop-
erty was damaged.
Later that morning, a For-
est Service crew working in the
south end of the county near
Silvies-Hopper Lane reported
a motorcycle crash with inju-
ries. Eric Wolf, 55, of Upland,
California, failed to negotiate a
curve at milepost 45C and sus-
tained minor injuries.
Sheriff’s office staff helped
crews in the Mt. Vernon area
locate lightning fires later in the
day.
At 8 p.m., a caller reported
finding a deceased person in the
pit area of Little Canyon Moun-
tain. Ryan Nichols, 42, of John
Day had been riding a motorcy-
cle in the area when he suffered
an apparent medical issue and
died.
McKinley thanked the pub-
lic for reporting the incidents
and encouraged them to con-
tinue to do so.
sured on Highway 26.
June 30: Received a report
of shots fired at Riverside
Home Park.
June 30: Arrested Travis
Freniere, 34, John Day, on a
Grant County warrant.
July 2: Received a report of
sexual abuse in John Day.
• Grant County Sheriff’s
Office
June 28: Received a report
of sexual abuse in Monument.
June 29: Responded for
theft on Moon Creek Road.
June 29: Cited John W. Dip-
pold, 18, Summerville, for an
unspecified offense.
July 2: Responded for a
fight at Mountain View Mini
Mart.
July 2: Cited David R.
Kodesh, 26, John Day, for fail-
ure to obey a traffic control
device.
July 3: Received a report of
a fight at Prairie City Pub.
July 3: Cited Jacob Gon-
zales, 35, Prineville, for an
unspecified offense.
July 4: Received a report of
a burglary on East Front Street.
July 4: Cited a 17-year-old
juvenile for speeding on High-
way 26.
• John Day ambulance
June 28: Responded with
Seneca ambulance for an unre-
sponsive man on B Avenue.
June 28: Responded with
Seneca ambulance for a man
who had fallen on Park Avenue.
June 29: Dispatched with
Prairie City ambulance for a
man who was disoriented with
involuntary movements on
North McHaley Avenue.
June 30: Responded for a
man with heat stroke at River-
side Home Park.
July 1: Dispatched for a
62-year-old man with heat
illness.
July 2: Responded for a
86-year-old man who fell and
injured his hip on Thompson
Avenue.
July 2: Responded for an
82-year-old woman on West
Main Street.
July 2: Responded for a
92-year-old woman with heart
problems on North Humbolt
Avenue.
July 3: Dispatched for a
woman who was disoriented
and unable to eat on Ninth
Street.
July 3: Responded for a man
with chest pain at Chester’s
Thriftway.
• Mt. Vernon fire
June 30: Received a report
of a forest fire on Coyote Butte.
• U.S. Forest Service
June 29: Received several
reports of forest fires.
June 30: Received multiple
reports of forest fires.
July 3: Received multi-
ple reports of a fire near Prai-
rie City.
Blue Mountain Eagle
COPS AND COURTS
Arrests and citations in the
Blue Mountain Eagle are taken
from the logs of law enforce-
ment agencies. Every effort is
made to report the court dispo-
sition of arrest cases.
Grant County Circuit
Court
A charge of harassment
against Aaron M. Roseberry of
John Day allegedly committed
July 20, 2020, was dismissed
June 30 based on a motion by
Grant County District Attorney
Jim Carpenter that the victim
is unavailable due to unfore-
seen emergent medical condi-
tions. Roseberry had pleaded
not guilty to the charge.
Grant County Justice
Court
Exceeding speed limit:
Jerry L. Johnson, 65, Pow-
ell Butte, May 19, 75/65 zone,
fined $165; Dusty V. Anderson,
23, Pendleton, May 30, 75/65
zone, fined $165; Joseph S.
Baker, 23, Gladstone, May 29,
40/30 zone, fined $115; Casey
E. Coberly, 30, Boise, Ida-
ho,May 28, 80/65 zone, fined
$265; Bryson C. Zacharias,
27, Post Falls, Idaho, May 29,
48/30 zone, fined $165; Dil-
lon C. Sederland, 26, Seneca,
June 2, fined $165; Joseph T.
Trzos, 49, Honey Brook, Penn-
sylvania, May 29, 79/65 zone,
fined $265; Jeffrey E. Schons,
66, Pacific City, May 29, 79/65
zone, fined $265; Andrew R.
Poulsen, 31, Ellensburg, Wash-
ington, May 25, 78/65 zone,
fined $265; Heidi M. Baker,
56, Sisters, June 2, 56/30 zone,
fined $265; Lacey M. Morti-
more, 41, John Day, May 15,
38/25 zone, fined $165; Kurt
T. Streit, 55, Prineville, May
27, 62/35 zone, fined $265;
Anthony J. Webb, 34, Port-
land, May 28, 54/35 zone, fined
$165; John V. Nordlund, 72,
Junction City, California, June
10, 75/55 zone, fined $165.
Violation of the basic rule:
Jennifer C. Smoot, 42, John
Day, May 31, 79/55 zone, fined
$265; Daisy E. Goebel, 24,
Eugene, June 20, 85/55 zone,
fined $265; Kendra L. Smith-
hart-Lundine, 48, Medford,
June 4, 75/55 zone, fined $165;
Matthew H. Katakura, 37, Mil-
ilani, Hawaii, May 29, 75/55
zone, fined $165; Anita W.
Hanks, 62, Tulalip, Washing-
ton, May 26, 73/55 zone, fined
$165; Candice C. Hook, 54,
Eugene, June 13, 75/55 zone,
fined $165.
Driving while suspended:
Bradley R. Bolin, 34, Mt. Ver-
non, April 27, fined $440; Ash-
lie R. Clark, 29, John Day, May
25, fined $440; Britt M. Wil-
cox, 26, John Day, fined $440;
David J. Darling, 46, John Day,
May 29, fined $440; Travis A.
Fisher, 22, Bend, May 31, fined
$440; Micailen S. Thornburg,
31, Bend, May 21, fined $440.
Driving uninsured: Ashlie
R. Clark, 29, John Day, May
25, fined $265; Britt M. Wil-
cox, 26, John Day, fined $265;
Micailen S. Thornburg, 31,
Bend, May 21, fined $265; Dil-
lon C. Sederland, 26, Seneca,
June 2, fined $265.
Failure to properly wear
seat belt: Andrea O. Barnes, 45,
John Day, May 29, fined $115;
David J. Darling, 46, John Day,
May 29, fined $115; Gary L.
Bruno, 55, Washougal, Wash-
ington, May 30, fined $115.
Failure to wear helmet
(motorcycle): Brian C. Ben-
nett, 25, Long Creek, May 29,
fined $115.
Operating a vehicle with-
out privileges: Juvenile, 17, Mt.
Vernon, May 27, fined $265.
No operator’s license: Dil-
lon C. Sederland, 26, Seneca,
June 2, fined $265.
Richard E. Wich pleaded no
contest to second-degree crimi-
nal trespass as a violation June
28 and was fined $440.
Dakoda K. Cazier pleaded
guilty to offensive littering as a
violation June 28 and was fined
$465.
Oregon State Police
June 25: A trooper stopped
a vehicle on Highway 26 near
milepost 173 for impeding traf-
fic and failure to maintain. The
driver, a 78-year-old man, was
having a medical emergency
and was taken to the hospital.
June 26: A trooper observed
several boaters drinking alcohol
and discarding the empty con-
tainers into Magone Lake. At the
boat ramp, indicators of impair-
ments were noticed on several
of the boaters and the driver
of a pickup. The boaters were
younger than 21. Five boaters
were cited and released for sev-
eral charges including furnishing
alcohol to a minor, offensive lit-
tering and minor in possession of
alcohol. One of the boaters was
charged with boating under the
influence of intoxicants.
Dispatch
John
Day
dispatch
responded to 233 calls for ser-
vice during the week of June 28
— July 4, including:
• John Day Police
Department
June 28: Cited David Dar-
ling, 46, John Day, for driving
while suspended and uninsured.
June 28: Cited Court-
ney Fox, 39, John Day, for
speeding.
June 29: Cited Somer Rob-
inson, 32, Dayville, for driving
while suspended and uninsured
and failure to present license on
Highway 26.
June 29: Cited Adrian
Couey, 36, John Day, for driv-
ing while suspended and unin-
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