Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, August 2,2006 - THREE
Equal under fire
continued from page 1
season and is a permanent
employee of the U.S. Forest
Service.
L ike the other
women, going out on initial
attacks is Harvey’s favorite
part of the job, but when
rappelling into a fire, the
125-pound and 5-foot, 5-
inch firefighter has to carry
a pack weighing between 85
and 1(X) pounds with all the
gear and food she will need
for a few days while on the
scene.
Staying fit is a big
part of the job and Mendo,
24, said she spends all winter
staying in shape.
D uring the fire
season, Hedman said the
trucks carry free-w eights
and there's always push-ups
and sit-ups to keep in shape,
as well as not eating too
much food.
“You’ve gotta watch
it or you can pack on the
pounds,’’ Hedman said.
O ne o f the hard
things about the work during
the fire season is being away
from loved ones plus the fact
that the jo b - w ith the
dangers of fighting fires and
rappelling out of helicopters
- can make family members
nervous.
Mendo said it’s hard
being away from her family
and fiance - all in California
- but she said her family is
supportive and the job is
good experience, even if her
m other d o e s n 't know
exactly what she is doing.
“She knows I’m in
fire but she doesn’t know
ex actly w h a t,” M endo,
whose helitack team also
rappels, said with a grin.
H edm an said her
summer job makes her mom
nervous, but her dad thinks
it’s cool while Harvey has
the opposite problem.
“My mom is really
supportive and is probably
the biggest fan of Smokey
the Bear,” Harvey said with
a laugh. “My dad wants me
to be a bank teller.”
Like Mendo, while
aw ay from her hom e in
Alpine, Harvey misses her
dog Hector but has good
neighbors who take care of
her special pooch while she
is away.
Being aw ay from
hom e, the hard physical
labor and long hours may not
be for everyone, but Harvey,
w ho spends the w inter
m onths
doing
law
enforcement work such as
enforcing winter closures in
the national forest on skis or
sn o w m o b ilin g , said the
training opportunities are
terrific.
“The forest service
offers up a lot of training,”
Harvey said.
M endo
alw ays
wanted to work for a fire
department and then found
out about the seasonal jobs
with the forest service. She
has spent three seasons with
the forest service and two
with the helitack crew.
She still plans to
e v en tu a lly w ork for a
municipal fire department
but said she is gaining some
good experience with the
seasonal job.
All three women said
they love hiking and being
outdoors. Harvey said she
gets to meet a lot of people,
plus she en jo y s the
camaraderie - or what she
calls a b u ilt-in support
system with her group.
The women all say
the men on their respective
teams are great and they
enjoy working with them and
that the feeling is mutual.
L e o n a r d
D im aculan g an , one o f
M endo’s team m em bers,
said having a woman on the
crew kind of evens things up
He said Gabby pulls her own
weight.
“Down in the south
zone region, it’s difficult to
get on a fire crew. So the fact
that she (Gabby) is here,
m eans a lot a lre ad y ,”
Dimaculangan said.
H elitack m anager
Brad Koeckeritz, with Teton
Helitack, said he has worked
with Harvey for six years and
said having women on the
crew adds more diversity to
the group.
“It builds a better
crew when you have people
from all w alks o f life,"
Koeckeritz said. "We don’t
view the women crew any
different - they are kind of,
sort of, one of the guys.”
M att S chutty has
only worked with Hedman
this year but said working
with her is “a blast.”
“Tiffany keeps us all
in lin e ,” S chutty said.
“Sometimes she treats us like
third-graders, but sometimes
we deserve it.”
CXBKM
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Heppner
Gazette
676-9228
Firewood cutting prohibited on
Umatilla National Forest
Campfire, smoking and off-road travel
restrictions also in effect
Firewood cutting on
the Umatilla National Forest
is now prohibited due to
increased fire danger and the
potential for large wildfires,
announced Bill Aney, Forest
Fire and A viation S taff
Officer.
“C a lcu la tio n s are
made each day to predict the
fire danger ra tin g ,” said
Aney. Daily temperatures,
wind speeds, humidity, fuel
m oisture and short-term
weather forecasts are used to
formulate the fire danger
rating. “The current fire
danger rating is EXTREME,
the highest rating in the four-
step rating system ,” said
Aney. "Firewood cutting will
resum e when conditions
improve.” Woodcutters can
call the toll-free number at
(877) 958-9663 for current
restriction information.
In a d d itio n
to
firew ood
cu ttin g
re stric tio n s, p u b lic-u se
restrictions on campfires,
smoking and off-road travel
are also in effect.
Current restrictions
prohibit the building and
tending of open campfires,
in clu d in g
charcoal
briquettes, cooking fires and
warming fires until further
notice, except in fire pits at
designated recreation sites
(recreation sites are listed
below). Permissible sources
of heat include pressurized
gas stoves and space-heating
devices for those rare cool
nights.
Sm oking is only
allow ed w ithin enclosed
v eh icles,
b u ild in g s,
developed recreation sites or
when stopped in an area
clearekJ of all flammable
material. Generator use is
still permitted at this time
though may be restricted as
the potential for wildfires
increase.
Travel restrictions
p ro h ib it all m o to rized
vehicles from traveling off of
developed Forest roads and
tra ils, ex cep t for the
purposes of going to or from
campsites located within 300
feet o f an open road.
Vehicles must still abide by
all laws and regulations
pertaining to the area of
travel.
All fo rest users
should carry an axe, shovel
and an 8-ounce or more
Sheriff’s Report
The Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office reports han
dling the following business:
July 25: M CSO
receiv ed a rep o rt from
Pendleton that Alex Lee
Ahumada, 21, was arrested
on an Irrigon Justice Court
warrant for Failure to Pay
F in e/P o ssessio n o f a
Controlled Substance Less
T han O ne O unce o f
Marijuana. He was already
capacity fire extinguisher
when visiting the Forest.
Several local land
m anagem ent ag en cies,
in clu d in g the O regon
Department of Forestry and
the Washington Department
of Natural Resources, have
similar restrictions in effect.
If unsure o f w hich
restrictions apply, please
c o n tact
the
land
management agency or call
the Umatilla National Forest
Office at (541) 278-3722.
Specific regulations are also
av ailab le
o n lin e
at
www.fs.fed.us/r6/uma.
C am pers
are
cautioned to be extremely
careful when using fires
ONLY in the follow ing
designated recreation sites
on the Umatilla National
Forest:
North Fork John
Day Ranger District: Bear
Wallow Campground; Olive
Lake Campground; North
Fork
John
Day
C am pground;
F razier
Campground; Lane Creek
Campground; and Winom
Creek Campground.
Walla
Walla
Ranger District: Jubilee
Lake
C am pground;
W oodland C am pground;
T arget
M eadow s
C am pground;
M ottet
C am pground; W oodward
C am pground; U m atilla
Forks C am pground; and
Approved Campfire Pits in
the Spout Springs and
Tollgate Summ er Homes
Tract.
Heppner Ranger
D istrict: Bull P rairie
Campground.
Pomeroy Ranger
D istrict:
B oundary
C am pground;
Panjab
C am pground; T ucannon
C am pground; G odm an
Campground; Big Springs
C am pground;
Teal
C am pground;
M isery
S prings
C am pground;
W ickiup C am pground;
Spruce
Springs
Campground; Alder Thicket
C am pground; Lady Bug
C am pground;
Pataha
C am pground;
Panjab
Trailhead; Teepee Trailhead;
Meadow Creek Trailhead;
Clearwater Cabin Rentals;
G odm an Cabin R ental;
Wenatchee Cabin Rental;
and Approved Campfire Pits
at Summer Homes.
lodged at Umatilla County
Jail.
MCSO received a
report from a c a lle r in
Lexington that wheat trucks
were not topping at the stop
sign at the corner of E and
Arcade streets. The caller
requested extra patrol.
MCSO received a
report from a caller in Irrigon
that she would like to get her
things from a residence that
she is on the lease. A person
staying there will not let her
have her things because she
is holding them in lieu of
H ost an Exchange
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Oregon Housing and
C om m unity
S erv ices
(OHCS) will hold a public
hearing on Monday, Aug. 7,
2006 at 10:30 a.m. for the
review of the state plan for
the 2007-2009 Community
S erv ices B lock G rant
Program for Oregon.
The purpose of this
hearing is to obtain public
comment on the proposed
20 0 7 -2 0 0 9 C om m unity
S erv ices B lock G rant
P rogram state plan for
Oregon. The hearing will
take place at O regon
Housing and Com m unity
Services, North Mall Office
Building, Conference Room
321,725 Summer Street NE,
Salem, OR.
OHCS
in v ite s
p erso n s in te re ste d in
com m enting on the state
plan are invited to attend the
public hearing. If no one has
show n to m ake public
comments by 12 p.m. on
Monday, July 31, 2006, the
hearing w ill be clo sed .
OHCS will accept written
comments if postmarked by
Friday, Aug. 11 2006. Visit
the public notices page on
the OHCS w eb site at
w w w .o h c s .o re g o n .g o v /
COM_PublicNotices.shtml
to view a copy o f the
p ro p o sed
state
plan.
Beginning July 31, 2006,
p lease
send
all
correspondence and request
for copies of the plan to
OHCS at: Oregon Housing
and Community Services,
Attn: Janet Gilbertson, 725
Summer Street NE, Suite B,
Salem, OR 97301. OHCS
can also be reached at (503)
986-2067.
OHCS is the State's
housing finance agency and
co m m u n ity
serv ices
programs administrator. The
D ep artm en t
p ro v id es
fin an cial and program
su p p o rt to create and
preserve opportunities for
quality, affordable housing
for Oregonians of lower and
m oderate incom e, and
administers federal and state
a n tip o v erty , h o m eless,
energy assistan c e and
co m m u n ity
serv ices
pro g ram s. The OHCS
mission to “Reach out for
o p p o rtu n itie s to create
partnerships that improve
Oregonians' lives, and the
quality of our communities.”
For more information, visit
o ur
w eb
site
at
www.ohcs.oregon.gov.
Americans almost finished paying
for Spanish-American War
H.R. 1898, which
would repeal the 3 percent
federal ex cise tax on
telecommunications, a 108-
year-old “tem porary" tax
enacted to fund the Spanish-
American War, gained its
218th co-sponsor this week.
A majority of the House is
now c o sp o n so rin g the
legislation.
While the Spanish-
A m erican War tax was
originally billed as a luxury
tax in 1898, when only the
wealthiest Americans had
telephones, the telephone
has long been a necessary
part of American life. The
tax is also highly regressive,
as it represents a greater
share of the income of low-
incom e and m inority
households. Consumers can
find this tax listed on their
phone b ills as “F ederal
Excise Tax.”
The
T reasury
Department recently ended
the tax on long distance
service, but according to the
co n g ressio n al
Joint
Committee on Taxation, this
still leaves approximately 80
percent of the tax in place.
“Americans should
not have to look at their
phone bill every month and
see a charge for “Federal
E xcise T ax ,” the c le v e r
government description for
the Spanish-American War
tax,” said Americans for Tax
Reform president G rover
Norquist. “Now a majority
of the House would not only
vote to repeal the tax, but
have proactively signed on
as cosponsors. This is a real
benchmark in the battle to
finally end this tax.”
The
Senate
companion to H.R. 1898, S.
1321, sponsored by Sen.
Rick Santorum (R-PA), has
been reported favorably by
the Finance Committee and
awaits a full Senate vote.
However, the Constitution
requires that the House pass
tax legislation before the
Senate may act.
Further information
can be found at ww w.atr.org.
rent. The c aller was
inform ed it was a civil
matter.
MCSO cited John
C annon W ilbur, 70, for
Violation of the Basic Rule,
75 mph in a 55 mph zone.
M CSO
arrested
Brent C. Paradiso, 34, on an
Irrigon Ju stice C ourt
warrant for Failure to Pay
F in e/D riv in g
w hile
Suspended. He was lodged
at Umatilla County Jail.
MCSO received a
report from a c a lle r in
B oardm an
that
the
neighbor's dog had puppies,
but the owner had left town
and the caller was concerned
that the owner had left them.
MCSO received a
report from a c a lle r in
H eppner that his d igital
cam era was sto len . A
suspect had been calling him
and saying that he would
never get the camera back.
A deputy retu rn ed the
cam era. It had not been
stolen, as the subject had
permission to use the camera
for a wedding.
M CSO received a
report from a caller in Irrigon
requesting an ambulance. An
eight-month-old child was
not breathing. Upon deputy
a rriv a l, the baby was
b reath in g
with som e
blueness around the lips. It
was determined that the baby
was choking on a pepper.
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