Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 1984)
- \ The Heppner Gazette-Times Tues Aug 14 Wed Aug 15 Thurs Aug IS Fri , Aug 17 Sat . Aug 18 Sun . Aug 19 Miw . Aug 20 M o rro w C o u n t y 'a H o m e - O w n e d W e e k l y N e w s p a p e r vol 1*2 NOJ4 TMl KNDAY, A l (.1 ST 13. IWM H eppner. Oregon MORROW COUNTY C E N T E N N I A L 1885 ft iC fe The Grand Sweepstakes Winner of the 1984 Morrow County f a i r and Kodeo Parade was built by Morrow- County employees and is intended to tie a permanent float, available for use by cities of Morrow County It is representative of the one room coun try schoolhouse which once was a major source of schooling in Morrow County The flagpole on the school house was donated by County Com missioner Irv Kauch and is the original pole from the Strawberry School located about 10 miles north of Lexington The school on the float has everything the old schools had Co. Court meets ‘Herb" H\ MARA A N N l'F.K l 1X0 Last Wednesday during Morrow County Court, County Sheriff Hoy Drago introduced to the court a potted pot plant" which stood approximately four and a half feet high The pland. dubbed "Herb" by the Sheriff’s department, had been saved from a recent raid of 25 potted plants in an Irrigon corn field According to Drago. "Herb"would remain on display at the Sheriff's Dept for a short time as an example of a marijuana plant In other business, Drago request ed the court's approval of an inter governmental agreement with the Condon Police Department for a dispatching service Drago stated that Condon has agreed to pay Morrow County $300 a year for the service 4 » A Marlene v u trin who was juilged teachers, including veteran district teachers Juanita Carmichael. Freda Slocum and Lorena Jones, students and even a dunce Another tea. her of note who was not able to ride on the float Saturday is Marguerite Glavey She used to teach in the Democrat Gulch School now located behind the museum From the McGuffey Header to the little globe the one room schoolhouse is a re minder of the setting in which many Morrow Countians began to learn their Headin', n tin g ' and ’nthm atic said a parade spokesperson "This is a good service we d be providing especially for under a dollar a day." Drago said The court approved the intergov ernmental agreement with Condon and approved Drago's approaching Wheeler and Gilliam Counties with the same agreement Morrow County Court continued with the following business discussed connecting the county- health nurse's office to the county 's new operator phone system discussed the possibility of a computer for the health nurse s office ^signed the third draft to an intergovernmental agreement be tween the county, the city of Hep pner and the Morrow Co School District for a sewage line The line w ill run behind the fairgrounds and into town Schwarz wins saddle % 1 4*1» I« P l o t s trophy saddle from Harry Kenmson, general manoger of Kinzua Carp More Morrow County Rodeo results on Page 6 l’ r « l>> li)«* C i t i o f H eppner "R est Cowgirl over 12 rode on a side saddle that is over 10U years old It belong«-«) to Katie Currin. Grand Marshall George (Turin's mother Charlotte. 15 and Greg. 13 P ar sons. The Windy (Tty (Towns, from Skokie. Illinois are visiting their aunt and uncle. George and Anna Mae Steagall of Heppner for the first lime They also have the distinction o( traveling the larthest for this parade Judges included Clare Koznek, Julie Warren Luke Hibby. Gene Pierce Beth B rya n t. M arianne Kahl. Mike Oths, Tom Alexander. Mike Lott, lamny Watne. LaHae Kindle. April Sykes, Bobbie Angell, and Clista Venard Morrow County Wranglers Hiding (Tub donated the public address system used for the parade M o r e resu lts puge 5 ‘Mr. Budweiser* was show stopper Saturday afternoon at the Morrow County Open Kodeo. Mr Hudweis e r," a lug. ugly one ton Brahma bull with big ugly horns stopped the show for about a half hour when he broke loose bent up a gate and came through the Ijttle la-ague Parking lot knucking a camper off the camper jacks Confusion followed while the stock contractor chased him and finally got a rope on him "You don't do much leading, but it stops him from going so fast said one rodeo board member He was soon under control and the rodeo continued Accident injures Round-Up princess During the Grand Entry at last Saturday's rodeo performance at the Morrow County Fairgrounds in Heppner two of the Pendleton Hound Up Court princesses and their horses collided Both girls were thrown from their horses Nancy M iller of Heppner was un hurt Cindy Insko of Pilot Rock received a broken jaw and a concus sion according to a spokesperson She underwent surjery on her jaw Sunday morning at St Mary Medi cal Center in Walla Walla where she was taken by LifeGuard III from Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Hep pner Insko s horse was unhurt after bumping shoulders with M iller's horse M iller s horse, however was taken to a veterinary clinic in Walla Walla with nerve damage to its shoulder She reports that it w ill tie a few days before they w ill know if the horse w ill be all right It is expected that Insko w ill be released from the hospital this week A combine throws a spark Flames shoot up from stubble and wheat Immediately, the harvest crew on that field starts fighting the fire with fire extinguishers and whatever else they have available, whether shovels to smother the fire with dirt a pumper on a pickup with a tank or wet sacks to beat out the flames Spray planes Ix-gin dump mg water Morrow County Grain (¡rowers and Columbia Basin Klee trie arrive w ith 4x4 pickups outfitted water tanks and pumps Neighbors with water trucks shovels, and more wet sacks out of no where everywhere, people come to help There is no organizes! e ffo rt. only a spirit of co operation because its harvest time and fire danger time in Morrow County There is one rural fire district in southern Morrow County, it encom passes an area, with Heppner as its center, within a seven and one half mile radius We cannot respond i to a fire ' out of our d istrict." said Heppner Fire Chief Forrie Hurken bine hut when there is a fire within the district fire fighters and equip men! are sent to fight the blaze We must leave one pumper truck inside the city lim its all the time continues Hurkenbine M ainly, when the fire crew arrives at a wheat fire they try. if possible to get ahead of it and stop it "Time is also a factor we must evaluate every situation is different " Sometimes crews are more effective elsew here Burkenbme says that the Fire Dept no longer uses backpacks with five gallons of water because firemen's time and effort are more effective in other ways Hob Costa of Morrow County Kxtension Service explains that sev cral years ago there was a list of ■quipment available at various , irm s which was kept at the Kxten sion office If a fire started someone would call them and they would liegin calling people on the list nearest the fire's location The list however, has not I icon updated for several years and the current sys tern is informal, he says Farmers learn by word of mouth' who has what equipment available Morrow County Grain Growers seem to lie as organized as anyone in getting the word out about a fire Manager Larry Mills says that if a fire is called in, they w ill dispatch a crew from M C G G and notify Gar Aviation The main thing which the Grain Growers ask is good direc tions to the blaze The Grain Growers equipment consists of a 4x4 pickup with a tank and sprayer on the back and a fertilizer truck which is kept full of water during the harvest season The fertilizer truck cannot go into the fields. Mills explains, but it can he parked close to the fire so that the pumper trucks don't have to go so far to get a fresh supply of water Mills says that although they do not have a designated fire crew. they always have people around and they go with the equipment to do the "handwork" with shovels and wet sacks which are needed to make sure the fire is completely out Columbia Basin Electric Co-op also has a 4x4 pickup with a loo gallon tank and pump on the hark which has been available for about the last year, reported Fred Toombs, co-op manager The main reason that CBEC acquire«) the fire equipment was to preserve their power poles when in danger from a wheat fire Toombs explains that C B E C likes to know about fires within their service area because fires "can be expensive, and we w ill send our truck with whoever is available as a crew " Toombs says that If no poles are in danger, the crews are to "go ahead and try to help stop the wheat fire Mel Boyer of Gar Aviation ex plains that during harvest especial ly. they scan the horizon If they see smoke, first they decide how far away it is and if they think it is a wheat fire, they go without waiting to be railed Sometimes if everyone at the airport is busy in the shop, they don't see the smoke Both fires that they have helped with this year. they receive«! .1 call from M (’ G G telling them the location Hover explains that nothing is organized but that it's fairly com mon in th«- wheat basin for everyone av a 1 la hie to help with possible wheat fir«« Because he has the planes available always full of water, this is the wav he fev-ts that he can help most Seitz Currin have also sent their plane to fight fires this year Hover however inherited the fire fighting role from Car 1-eyva about 25 y«-ars ago He says that some farmers have tried in the post to pay for his service, hut that he won't accept pay It is volunteer, and available to whomever neetls the help In the (vast, he explains that he would add a retardant to the water in the plane s tanks but that it takes time and W le«-ls he can do more go.nl by getting to the fire faster The planes are alway s full of water and ready to go Duane Uisque and Gene llrw ick of la-xington Lumber in the same volunteer spirit decided about two years ago that they would lx- more effective helping to fight a fire if they filled the tanks on the planes and moved the tanker so that the planes could reload closer to the site of the fire Not all spray planes have the right kind of dump valve to fight fire, Boyer explains Some valves will dump the entire load in one spot and that doesn't do much good for fighting fire Boyer says that if they can stop a fire from the head, they do hut if it is burning downwind, sometimes they can I do too much ahead to stop it so the standard pro« «-«lure is to «time along the edge and drop water to cool the fire down The p«-ople on the ground then "jump in and clean up The uirplan«-s dump water for a 2tx> urn yard stretch, then. hop«-ful ly if things are going smoothly, another plane is there ready to lake over while the first one goes for another loud The plan«*x can put the fire out completely, hut only for a short distance, so it proves more effective to drop enough water to r r - M An accident north of Lexington on Highway 207 near milepost four left one man dead Saturday. Aug IS The Oregon State Police from Hermiston responded to the accident at 9 50 p m The 0 S P report says that the car was traveling south on Hwy 207 when it ran off the right side of the road came back on the highway, ran off the road to the left, came hack on the highway again and rolled over, coming to a rest on its top on the roadway Driver of the vehicle. David Allen Kirhards. 21. of George. Washing ton. was taken by ambulance to Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Hepp ner where he was treated for lacer ations. a back injury, and bruises, and released The passenger, l-eonard Lee Gib honey, 21. of Davenport. Washington was dead following the accident, concluded the spokesperson for the Oregon State Police cool the fire down and then for the grourni crews to go in and finish the job If there is an average fire ." Boyer says, "it probably starts when the emergency brake is left on and the driver moves a loaded wheat truck Bacause the truck is loaded, the driver doesn't feel that the brake is on. and it is stain so hot that it ignites stubble Another common cause is a combine covered with chaff whu-h can get against the manifold and become hot Hopefully the fire is "s m a ll" which means that a farm crew can stop it on the spot, but if his planes are involved, Boyer says the fire probably encompass«-* 40 acres or more and takes about two hours to put out Of course, if the wind is blowing, the fire w ill not stay in that small of an area for two hours Many factors determine the way the fire is dealt with the lay of the land and natural breaks, the wind direction, and which side is most expensive If buildings or uncut wheal is on one side of the fire and stubble or scab land on the other side, if possible, the planes attack the expensive side first Sometimes, the fire is approache«! by dousing the sides to let the r<*st of the fire burn toward a road or fallow field which will not burn 'Sometimes the fire is too hot for the ground crews and equipment Sometimes, they're too hot for us, loo, but we go anyway If we can get on some of them in time, we can do a lot more than if we get there later When the ground crews are some what organized, it helps too. and most of them are. just because they've lw-en to many fir«*s." This has been a fairly go«xt year, with only a few fires. Boyer con tmues, "and that says something atiout human nature " In years, like this one when everything is dry and there is the worst hazard, we esper lence the fewest fires Three years ago when the hazard was average there were about 30 fir«-s No charge- «'all us. we'll come and bring whomever we can During fire season, at least, neighbors still do care about one another ■'2SB ■ J V. ---gyj, a Jg \.L e x . wreck leaves 1 man dead Pat Schwarz (left) accepts the amateur calf roping la»* 49 54 54 50 44 45 49 Call of ‘fire’ brings out help during harvest time in South M orrow County Morrow Co. employees build Grand Sweepstakes winner Grand sweepstakes float - High M m 91 tat »1 »5 HS - » * .*> M el Boyer l fights wheat fire
