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50¢ VOL. 144 NO. 29 8 Pages Wednesday, July 24, 2024 Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon Recall effort fails, MC Commissioners retain seats Multiple Fires Merge and move into Morrow County Jefff Wenholz Map of the fires as of Tuesday afternoon. -Photo contributed. By Chris Sykes Yesterday, the Snake Fire merged into the Mon- key Creek Fire in the North Fork John Day River corri- dor, resulting in the 48,348- acre Monkey Creek Fire. The river corridor and other drainages are experiencing especially gusty conditions, with high temperatures, wind gusts, steep rimrock terrain, and limited vis- ibility complicating fire suppression efforts. “Our firefighters have been battling these fires day and night for several days amid some of the most challenging terrain and weather in the state,” said Incident Commander Tyler McCarty. “We’re so proud of the work they’ve done. We’re talking a lot about safety because there’s a lot of work ahead of us to put these fires out.” Overnight, crews con- tinued to line and mop up spot fires from yesterday on the northeast corner of the Monkey Creek Fire. Along the south end, where crews saw the most active fire be- havior, they used defensive firing operations to burn vegetation up to dozer lines to head off the fire. Dozer lines to the east and south of the southern head of the fire proved to be effective and will be improved today. On the southeast por- tion of the Monkey Creek Fire, firefighters continued to scout for positions to line and begin burn operations to head off where the fire crossed over the Middle Fork John Day River. Crews will continue defending and protecting structures along the river corridor, where fire activity remains active. On the north portion of the Monkey Creek Fire, crews continue to improve dozer lines, looking for areas to tie together lines and place defensive burn operations. Crews will continue mop-up operations and patrolling on the 4,485- acre North Fork Owens Fire, which stands at 20% containment (the complex stands at 3% containment). Last night, acreage in- creased due to more ac- curate GPS mapping, not from fire growth. Resources from this division will also support local initial attacks for any potential new starts from expected lightning this afternoon. Evacuations: Level 1 (Be Ready), Level 2 (Be Set), and Level 3 (Go Now) evacuations are in effect. For updated information, visit the Battle Mountain Complex 2024 page. The Monkey Creek Fire has now moved into the southeast corner of Morrow County, and more informa- tion will follow regarding this development. Addi- tionally, the Boneyard Fire is also threatening Morrow County. Fire at a Glance: Battle Mountain Complex Total Estimated Size: 52,833 acres Monkey Creek: 48,348 acres North Fork Owens: 4,485 acres Snake: (Merged with Monkey Creek) Containment: 3% Cause: Under Investi- gation The challenging con- ditions in the river corridor and other drainages, char- acterized by high tempera- tures, wind gusts, steep rimrock terrain, and limited visibility, are complicating fire suppression efforts. For more information, visit the Battle Mountain Complex 2024 page. Lone Rock Fire Morn- ing Briefing - July 23, 2024 Containment: 40% Total Acres: 131,407 ODF Private Protec- tion: 55,428 acres BLM: 3,424 acres USFS: 16,814 acres Dept. of State: 1,513 acres Unprotected Lands: The effort to recall three Morrow County com- missioners—Roy Drago, Jeff Wenholz, and David Sykes—has failed. This recall initiative, driven by a group called Morrow County Citizens for Lib- erty and Justice, began in late January 2024 and was spearheaded by Irrigon resident Stuart Dick. The Morrow County Citizens for Liberty and Justice group held multiple community meetings across the county, starting with the first meeting in Hep- pner, which was attended by nearly 50 residents and additional participants on Zoom. The group aimed to discuss issues they believed warranted a recall, focusing on three main topics: the proposed new Ambulance -Continued to PAGE TWO Service Area (ASA) plan, transparency issues regard- BOC approves ambulance contract with Boardman Fire County, health district still negotiating By Andrea Di Salvo Morrow County is one step closer to long-term ambulance coverage for the county after last week’s board of commissioners meeting in Irrigon, but a few hurdles remain. The Morrow Coun- ty BOC approved a five- year contract with Board- man Fire Rescue District (BFRD) last Wednesday. However, Morrow County Administrator Matthew Jensen reported that, while the county had awarded Ambulance Service Areas (ASAs) to Morrow County Health District (MCHD) and BFRD, the contract with MCHD is still under negotiation. Jensen reiterated that the ambulance provider advisory committee had not looked at financial as- pects of the two applicants, but that the county had been negotiating final terms with the health district and Boardman Fire for the pre- vious two weeks. Boardman Fire’s con- tract was fairly straightfor- ward, he said. BFRD will transition from interim pro- vider to a five-year contract as the Northern Ambulance Service Area provider, ef- fective July 17, 2024, and ending June 30, 2029. The total contract amount is $1,375,000 plus Consumer Price In- dex-based increases over the five years, to be paid quarterly. The estimated cost for the first year is around $275,000. Jensen said the contract also allows about 10 percent leeway for undue expenses. As for the health dis- trict contract for the North- east and Southern ASAs, Jensen said the language in the MCHD contract is similar. “We’re just working on those final details, and spe- cifically their requirement for the IGA,” said Jensen. He reported the county had held multiple meet- ings with MCHD to clarify compensation and MCHD’s request for intergovernmen- tal agreements (IGAs) with each of the county’s five municipalities. “We talked with them. We went through some of those details,” he said, add- ing that they had developed an IGA document to take to the cities for consideration. He said it was not a final draft, but he was looking for feedback. “See if we can’t get that taken care of so we can get Morrow Coun- ty Health District under contract,” Jensen said. “If there’s pushback on that, we’ll be working with Mor- row County Health District, the attorneys and represen- tatives from the cities, to finalize and try to figure out if that IGA is the path or if we need to come back and just bring something else to the BOC.” In fact, it seems there might be some pushback from at least one commu- nity. Irrigon City Manager Aaron Palmquist addressed the board during public comment, asking the com- missioners to provide an update and finalize con- tracts as quickly as possible to dispel rumors. “Let’s get that going so it can get on the street and quiet the ‘rustling of the winds,’” said Palmquist. However, he also said that, despite Irrigon’s sup- port for MCHD, Irrigon will not be entering into an Roy Drago Jr. intergovernmental agree- ment with the health dis- trict. The city had previous- ly passed a resolution in support of MCHD as its ambulance service provid- er, but Palmquist said legal counsel had recommended not entering into an IGA. “We appreciate that Morrow County has chosen who’s going to be the ASA provider here,” he said. “We just want to see that agreement and get those -Continued to PAGE SEVEN David Sykes ing the ASA, the new circuit court building planned in Heppner, and the county ad- ministrator’s salary, as well as Amazon tax abatements and water nitrates. The meetings allowed citizens to give comments and ask questions. At the end of the initial meeting, a vote was taken on whether to proceed with recall efforts. The vote was 26 for and 14 against. The recall effort fo- cused on addressing issues within the county’s gover- nance. By June 12, 2024, Morrow County Clerk Bob- bi Childers verified the signatures on the recall petition, confirming that it had qualified to be included on the ballot. The deadline for the commissioners to either resign or submit a Statement of Justification in 200 words or less, was June 17, 2024. None of the commissioners resigned, prompting the scheduling of a special recall election, which was held on July 22, 2024. The recall election re- sults were as follows: For Roy Drago: Yes: 688 No: 1508* Over Votes: 1 Under Votes: 15 Total: 2212 -Continued to PAGE THREE Heppner Ranger District temporarily closed Pendleton – Due to active wildfires in the Heppner Ranger District, compounded by extremely unfavorable weather con- ditions, limited firefighting resources, and concern for public safety, forest officials in the Umatilla Nation- al Forest are Temporarily closing the Heppner Ranger District. The objective of the closure is to proactively protect public and firefighter safety as multiple Incident Management Teams contin- ue to actively suppress large wildfires in the Heppner Ranger District, while local resources respond to poten- tial new smoke reports. Two large wildfires are currently burning in the Heppner Ranger District, The Lone Rock Fire is estimated to be over 116,000 acres in size, with 40% containment, and Boneyard Fire, which is currently estimated to be over 8,300 acres and 0% contained. All fires have active suppression efforts taking place and are be- ing managed by Incident Management Teams. Lone Rock and Boneyard Fires have triggered evacuation orders for multiple towns. With multiple large wild- fires burning in the Hep- -Continued to PAGE TWO CALL 541-989-8221 ext 204 for more information
