HermistonHerald.com
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017
$1.00
DAWGS HEADED
FOR SEMI-FINALS
>> PAGE A9
INSIDE
REQUEST DENIED
HERMISTON COUNCIL
DECLINES $10,000
EOTEC REQUEST
PAGE A3
DISTRICT ON
DINNER TIME
GET THE SCOOP ON
THE COMMUNITY
FELLOWSHIP DINNER
PAGE A4
VET RESPECT
SEE PHOTOS OF VETERANS
DAY EVENTS
PAGE A13
BY THE WAY
Water lines coming
at Amazon’s
expense
The Hermiston City
Council
approved
a
$746,798
construction
bid by C&E Construc-
tion of Pasco to extend the
regional water system to
new data centers planned
by VaData (a subsidiary
of Amazon) on Westland
Road and near Lind Road.
VaData will cover the
cost of the improvements
to the system. City Man-
ager Byron Smith said
the bid — the only one the
city received — is more
than $200,000 higher than
engineers had estimated,
but VaData was willing to
pay the higher price not
to delay construction, and
C&E had done good work
on the system before. The
See BTW, Page A14
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
New decals adorn the door of a Umatilla County Fire District 1 engine at the main station in Hermiston.
UCFD celebrates success, plans
for future after fi rst year
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
In the year and six months since voters
accepted a bond to merge the Hermiston and
Stanfi eld fi re districts, the resulting Umatilla
County Fire District 1 has seen swift changes.
But with the exception of minor growing pains,
Fire Chief Scott Stanton said the transition has
been smooth.
“There have been very few bumps in the
road,” Stanton said. “There were no surprises
on my radar. We put in a lot of groundwork and
labor, and mitigated any possible pitfalls that
could happen from this.”
So successful has the new district been that
they were awarded the “Oregon Fire District of
the Year” award last week at the Oregon Fire
District Association conference.
Stanton attributed the award to several
changes they implemented shortly after form-
ing the new district.
“The biggest deal was getting the second
station staffed, fi nally,” he said. “We’ve already
seen lives saved and fi res put out that wouldn’t
have otherwise.”
The second station, at East Punkin Center
and Diagonal roads, has been around for 31
years, but had never been staffed full-time until
March of this year.
The district has hired six people to staff the
station.
Stanton said he was also proud of the com-
munity paramedic program, which the district
began in June in conjunction with Good Shep-
herd Medical Center’s ConneXions program,
which connects people with community health
resources. The program allows paramedics to
See UCFD, Page A14
Toddler in critical condition with gunshot wound
HERMISTON HERALD
A Hermiston toddler is in criti-
cal condition after being acciden-
tally shot in the head by a seven-
year-old sibling, according to the
Hermiston Police Department.
Longterm prognosis for the
boy, age 2, “cannot yet be deter-
mined,” the news release stated,
and his name and other details are
not being released in order to pro-
tect the identities of the minors
involved.
The police department was con-
tacted by Good Shepherd Medi-
cal Center shortly before 5 p.m. on
Friday about a child with a gun-
shot wound to the head. After offi -
cers responded to the hospital and
learned the location of the shoot-
ing, HPD offi cers and deputies
from the Umatilla County Sher-
iff’s Offi ce secured the scene.
Pendleton Police Department also
assisted by providing a child foren-
sic interviewer.
According to the department,
based on physical evidence and
statements of family members it
appears the toddler was acciden-
tally shot by a sibling, age 7 with
a .25 caliber Beretta handgun in a
vehicle. Chief Jason Edmiston said
the gun was reportedly owned by
the childrens’ mother, although the
department has not yet offi cially
confi rmed that through a trace of
ownership.
The victim has since been
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL.
These gun locks are available for free at Hermiston Police Department to
protect children from accidentally discharging a gun.
transferred to an out-of-area hos-
pital. Child Protective Services
is involved and the case will be
reviewed by the Umatilla County
District Attorney’s Offi ce to deter-
mine if any charges will be fi led
See TODDLER, Page A14