4A • September 15, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
SignalViewpoints
The people
you meet
along the way
I
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Chetco Bar fi re, Clatsop County Task Force 25 members Louie Laukkanen, James Hutchinson, Brent Salisberry, David
Rankin, Josh Como. Back row, Amy Lenz, Mike Lalonde, Jeff Golightly, Frank Stuhr, Kattie Bulletset, Dallen Maine, Joey
Daniels and Bill Eddy.
Firefi ghters take the front
lines as state wildfi res burn
W
e all know the phrase, “Where
there’s smoke, there’s fi re.”
I would amend that to
where there’s smoke, there’s fi refi ght-
ers.
Local residents might not have
noticed the absence of members of the
Seaside and Gearhart fi re departments
over the last month, because they’ve
done such a seamless job of coverage in
their absence.
As an editor and reporter, I’m aware
of the fi res by the daily press updates
we receive from throughout the state:
weather conditions, territory covered,
hot spots and structures destroyed. It
all seems pretty remote, until the haze
descends on the Coast and it’s not just
morning fog.
While most of us are covering are
faces at the sooty smells and closing
our windows, others in our communi-
ty are heading in the direction of the
blazes. These local heroes are among
the hundreds of volunteers and profes-
sionals who have taken an oath to serve
in harm’s way.
Firefi ghters from Seaside, Gearhart,
Cannon Beach, Olney, Lewis and Clark,
Warrenton and Knappa fi re districts
have been deployed to fi res throughout
the state.
Seaside Fire participated as a mem-
ber of the taskforce at the Milli Fire
near Sisters, at the Chetco Bar Fire and
now the Gorge fi re.
Gearhart, a city of 1,200 full-time
residents, sent teams to the Chetco Bar
Fire near Brookings and to the fi re at
Eagle River.
“They’re leaving their jobs and their
families to go down there,” Gearhart
City Administrator Chad Sweet, who
is also a fi refi ghter, said at the city’s
September City Council meeting.
Seaside Fire Chief Joey Daniels
served as task force leader at the Brook-
ings fi re, accompanied by Gearhart Fire
Chief Bill Eddy and local fi refi ghters.
The task force leader assigns six
crews, Daniels said shortly after his re-
turn. Their task was to protect structures
in a 40-mile area, to create what they
call “defensible space.”
Firefi ghters prepped houses, sweep-
ing off the roof, cleaning gutters and
making a defensible space, Eddy said.
they would have it back to you before
you got off the shift.”
“Speaking about the community, no
one was a stranger,” Hutchinson said.
“Everyone appreciated you being there.
They said, ‘We’re glad you’re here.’
Driving by, people would honk or wave
at you. Even coming down I-5, we had
people honking and giving thumbs up.”
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
The team installed sprinkler kits,
weed-whacked, cleaned gutters and
blew excess grass away from houses.
On days when the “lid was on the
fi re and the smoke was on the ground,”
air support was impossible, Eddy said.
Sky cranes equipped with snorkels,
double-bladed and single-bladed
choppers with buckets would dip into
the Chetco or the Pistol rivers before
dumping into on the fi re lines to slow
its growth, Eddy said.
The challenge was to learn the area
quickly, Daniels said.
Return home
A day on the lines
Mornings began with a wake-up at 5
a.m., a 5:30 a.m. briefi ng, followed by
a 6 a.m. meeting with task force leaders
from each division.
Daniels said at times there would be
an hour wait for a shower, “so you’d
have to gamble of whether to use baby
wipes.”
James Hutchinson, a 20-year-old
fi refi ghter with the Gearhart Fire
Department, was among those who
“maxed out” their time at the Brook-
ings fi re, capped at 14 consecutive
days. When he got there, he slept in a
tent outdoors — fi rst on the ground,
then on an air mattress. He later found
a bed at Brookings High School before
being sent to a fi re camp about 10
miles south.
Eddy said temperatures in the region
ran in the mid 90s to low 100s. Fire-
fi ghters were spared the heat of the
blaze, except when the winds picked
up, he said. “The outside temperature
was bad enough.”
Community support
Community support made a big
difference, Daniels said. “The people in
Brookings were nice as could be.”
He said it was almost like having
another family. “We had a church group
that would do the laundry. You would
drop off your bag in the morning and
During long absences of volunteers,
local departments teamed to share mu-
tual aid, with Cannon Beach, Seaside
and Gearhart sharing responsibilities in
the South County.
It went “seamlessly,” and residents
probably didn’t notice a lot of the dif-
ference, Daniels said.
Hood to Coast took place without in-
cident, he said, despite the fi re personnel
shortages. “I’m really proud of the peo-
ple in Seaside. They really stepped up.”
Daniels described the commitment
fi refi ghters make when they head to
a wildland fi re. “It’s not like going to
a home fi re for two hours,” he said. “
These guys are gone for long stretch-
es. Even though we are paid it doesn’t
mean we don’t want to be home with
our families.’
With fi refi ghters heading back out to
fi ght the Gorge fi re, North Coast cities
remain shorthanded.
“That’s just how it is,” Daniels said.
“We never want to use the resources,
but I want to know when we have
something happen here the state, they
will step up to help. Whether it’s a tsu-
nami or a big fi re, we’re going to need
all those resources to come help us.
We’re sure going to want them to come
to Clatsop County.”
After a 10-hour drive back, exhaust-
ed volunteers returned to their fi rehous-
es and homes.
The fi rst thing Daniels did was spend
time with his 18-month-old son Jacob.
“He was having a tough time with dad-
dy being gone,” Daniels said. “That’s
another thing: our families are taking a
pretty big hit too.
“Our task force represented our town
pretty well,” he added. “They were
well-trained, they did their job and they
represented the agencies well — and I
think that’s what the state would say.”
was near the Cove at that place some people call
Painted Rock Beach and others simply call The Rock
Garden when I saw a woman sitting on a bench
painting a rock. This was unusual because the rocks
people place there seem to be painted elsewhere, but this
lady was painting with Wite-Out, a product I haven’t used
since my old editorial assistant days, back when we were
all still using typewriters.
“Sorry,” I said. I felt like I was interrupting something,
specifi cally her privacy. What she was doing seemed
very personal. She
had her open bag
beside her and
VIEW FROM
she was wearing a
THE PORCH
windbreaker and
EVE MARX
a hat to ward off
the sun, which that
morning was bright
and shining. It was about two weeks before the wildfi res
broke out, before the air became thick and heavy with
smoke and ash, smoky enough to make my eyes water
when I walked the dogs in the morning.
“That’s alright,” the woman said. She put down the
tiny brush and the bottle of Wite-Out. She seemed like
maybe she didn’t mind some conversation.
So we began talking. I told her I was a writer. She said
she was taking a little time off from work to paint a rock
for her son who was no longer with her. She told me a bit
about her life. We talked about how expensive housing
had become in the area. She asked about my dogs, the
one who is young and spunky and beautiful, and also the
one people tend to avert their eyes away from because he
is old looking as well as crippled. I told her I had another
dog at home, a tiny very ancient dog who is blind and who
doesn’t leave the property very often.
She told me her name is Kimberly and that she came
to Seaside via Cannon Beach and that she had recently
started a business. Her business is called AA Brilliant
Clean (with double AAs) and that it is a cleaning ser-
vice. She said she had just put up more business cards to
advertise it at Ken & Son’s Market. “I’m not so interested
in cleaning short term rentals,” she said. “I’d like to work
for people who live in their houses.” She said she does all
the regular jobs that house cleaners do and that she also
does windows.
The entire time Kimberly was talking I was listening,
but I also felt something else. My rational brain was tell-
ing me I’d never met Kimberly before, but another part of
me felt we had connected at another point in time, on an-
other level. Perhaps it was something about her eyes, very
clear blue eyes radiating nothing but peaceful kindness.
At last it seemed time for me to leave her to her task of
painting that rock. I had a pie to bake anyway. Our apple
tree has been very generous this year and boy, do we have
apples. I think my husband may be tiring of eating apples
at almost every meal. We’ve had chicken salad with
apples; tuna salad with apples; baked apples; apples baked
with potatoes; apple and cabbage slaw. For a snack I cut
them up and dip the slices in honey. They’re very good
with peanut butter. My husband’s favorite thing, however,
is apple pie, which I’m pretty sure he would eat every day,
or at least until we fi nally run out of apples.
Walking home, I refl ected how everyone I’ve met on
the beach with the painted rocks seems to be a kind per-
son. There is something about that little stretch of beach
that draws gentle spirits. Everyone who steps on to that
beach leaves a tiny bit of themselves behind, whether it’s
a painted rock, a prayer, or their own gentle good wishes
to a fellow visitor. I wish I’d
brought an apple with me
that day. I would have
given it to Kimberly.
Eve Marx is
a book author
and bi-coastal
journalist.
It’s apple-picking
time in Seaside.
EVE MARX/
FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
How summer reading helps kids build a better world
T
he Seaside Public Library
wrapped up our annual
summer reading program for
children, teens, and adults, with
record numbers this year. We set
a new record of 335 registered and
268 total fi nishers for this year’s
“Build a Better World” themed
reading program. Total read came to
a grand total of 2,048 hours. Starting
June 10 and fi nishing on Aug. 31,
kids who kept track of their reading
with reading logs throughout the
summer could turn their reading
logs in for prizes. The goal of our
annual summer reading program is
to help kids retain what they have
learned throughout the school year.
Studies have shown that “summer
slide” occurs when kids don’t
actively read throughout the summer
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
David F. Pero
R.J. Marx
BETWEEN
THE COVERS
ESTHER MOBERG
and children may regress up to an
entire grade level if they don’t keep
up with their reading.
We had two fun puppet events this
year. Professional puppeteers from
Dragon Theater puppets entertained
Seaside Children with a puppet show
based on the summer reading theme
and Penny’s Puppets, sponsored by
the Oregon Savings Plan, gave a free
show at the Seaside Library. The
234th Army Band also came and
entertained with a storytelling and
music show for all ages. The Inter-
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
Jeremy Feldman
John D. Bruijn
ADVERTISING
SALES
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Brandy Stewart
Carl Earl
national Border Collies are always a
big hit and came ready to perform,
entertain, and educate. Building with
blocks, Legos, straw construction and
snap circuit electronics was the most
desired hands on programs for kids
and parents working together and
getting lost in building things. The
parents who attended requested this
event on a regular basis.
At one of the weekly preschool
storytimes this summer, preschool-
ers tried hands on science. Story-
time science experiments included
a density tower and tub of water.
Kids followed the fi ve steps of
the scientifi c method by asking a
question, making a plan, experi-
menting, observing and coming to a
conclusion of items that would sink
or fl oat. The experiments were done
STAFF WRITER
Brenna Visser
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
Skyler Archibald
Rebecca Herren
Katherine Lacaze
Eve Marx
Esther Moberg
Jon Rahl
together with a read aloud story that
explained the fi ve steps of the scien-
tifi c method: “Charlotte the Scientist
is Squished,” by Camille Andros.
Some of the fun events for teens
at this year’s summer reading pro-
gram included events where teens
made blankets and donated them
through Clatsop Community Action.
Our teen Tuesday attendees also
made dog and cat toys and donated
them to the local animal shelter. Oth-
er fun teen events included a bridge
building competition and a cooking
class baking rigatoni in a cup.
Wolves, hiking, and music were
just a few of the highlights of this
year’s adult summer reading pro-
gram. In July, author Beckie Elgin
told the story of “Journey: The Amaz-
ing Story of OR-7, the Oregon Wolf
that Made History.” The incredible
story of a tagged Oregon wolf who
left northeast Oregon, to fi nd a mate,
and became the fi rst wild wolf to
enter California in 87 years in an
incredible 4,000-mile three-year trek.
In August, author Carolyn Wood
retold her experiences hiking the
famed Camino de Santiago. The
Camino de Santiago (the Way of St.
James) is a large network of ancient
pilgrim routes stretching across
Europe and coming together at
the tomb of St. James (Santiago in
Spanish) in Santiago de Compostela
Spain. Carolyn faced emotional and
physical obstacles as a 66-year-old
when she decided to hike 500 miles
in 40 days along the famed pilgrim-
age route in southern France and
northwestern Spain.
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