A2 • Friday, August 12, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
Oregon Fire Marshal
Miller Road Fire in Wasco County.
Clatsop County task force
responds to Miller Road Fire
Firefi ghters
respond to
Emergency
Confl agration Act
Seaside provided mutual aid response to the Miller Road Fire.
Teams returned on Saturday.
ing for help.”
The Miller Road Fire was
reported on Aug. 2, in an area
about 13 miles southwest of
Maupin, on the Deschutes
River.
The governor’s declara-
tion cleared the way for the
state fi re marshal to mobilize
fi refi ghters and equipment to
assist local resources in bat-
tling the fi re.
By Aug. 4, the fi re had
spread to more than 10,500
acres. Crews worked to cre-
ate fi re containment lines
with support from air oper-
ations, the Wasco County
Sheriff ’s Offi ce reported.
Dozer lines and hand lines
were established in the south-
east corner of the fi re.
Deployments are always
planned for a maximum of
14 days, Rankin said.
“Under special circum-
stances we can swap out per-
sonnel or equipment,” he
said. “While we plan on 14
days, the state can release our
units back home or send them
to another fi re if necessary.”
The task force returned
Aug. 6, Div. Chief Genesee
Dennis said.
Expanding access to broadband
in Jewell proves diffi cult
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
A project to bring broad-
band to the Jewell area is
undergoing a reboot.
Last year, Clatsop County
and the Jewell School Dis-
trict signed an intergovern-
mental agreement to deliver
improved internet access
to areas where service, if it
exists at all, tends to be spotty
and sluggish. A 2020 survey
of school district families
found that less than 40% of
people in the Jewell area had
reliable internet.
The task of upgrading
internet service in this remote
corner of the county has
proven more diffi cult than the
proposal initially suggested.
Meanwhile, the school
district — the project’s com-
munity anchor — has faced
upheavals in leadership.
Steve Phillips, the former
superintendent who origi-
nally presented the broad-
band idea to the county Board
of Commissioners in Septem-
ber, was placed on admin-
istrative leave pending an
independent investigation.
In May, Phillips became the
new superintendent at New-
berg Public Schools.
Brian Gardner — who
served as acting superinten-
dent earlier this year before
Cory Pederson was hired
Gearhart Fire calls,
Miller Road response
Seaside Signal
Seaside Signal
Clatsop County fi refi ght-
ers responded after Gov.
Kate Brown invoked the
Emergency Confl agration
Act in response to the Miller
Road Fire in Wasco County
last week.
Seaside Fire sent two
vehicles out and four person-
nel, Div. Chief David Rankin
said.
Chief Joey Daniels serves
as county task force leader
and Lt. Matt Keefer is assis-
tant task force leader.
Gearhart, Astoria, Lewis
and Clark and Knappa fi re
departments each sent per-
sonnel and apparatus. A sea-
sonal fi refi ghter and a part-
time fi ghter affi liated with
Nehalem Fire are deployed
with a separate task force.
“As always, when we
send out crews, the No. 1 pri-
ority of all of the fi re depart-
ments in the county is to
ensure we keep a response
to our normal day-to-day
business,” Rankin said. “As
soon as the task force left,
the phones started ringing
among the chiefs and every-
one coordinated to see what
each other needed or provide
mutual aid options. Seaside,
Clatsop County and the state
of Oregon fi re service don’t
work without mutual aid.
When our neighbors need us
we go, because it won’t be
very long before we are call-
Gearhart fi refi ghters returned from fi ghting the Miller Road Fire in Wasco County.
along with a new principal —
continues to work as a consul-
tant on the broadband project.
Gardner said he has put
a stop to spending any addi-
tional money on it.
“It’s not a boondoggle,” he
said, “and I’m trying to make
sure that it doesn’t become
one.”
An early phase of the proj-
ect called for a $500,000 con-
tribution from the county and
$250,000 from the school
district.
A little over $140,000 has
gone into the project so far,
Gardner said. That amount
has paid for a trunk line — a
dedicated fi ber-optic cable —
connected to Jewell School,
a tower — called “tower
zero” — atop a school build-
ing, and a roughly $80,000
deposit with American Tower
Corp. to build towers to serve
the wider region. If the proj-
ect doesn’t pan out, about
$50,000 of that $80,000 is
recoverable, since there is a
$30,000 restocking fee on
materials already purchased.
In total, roughly $90,000
has been spent, Gardner said.
The
intergovernmen-
tal agreement stipulates that
the county pays for two-
thirds, the school district
the other third. If the project
were to end at this point, the
county would be out roughly
$60,0000, the school district
about $30,000, Gardner said.
Gearhart Fire reported
410 calls since the start of
the year and 89 calls for the
month of July. The call level
exceeds last year’s record
pace of 378.
Of calls, 39 were inside
the city and 35 within the
Gearhart Fire District. Aid
was sent 15 times in July.
Aid was sent to Cannon
Beach one time , Warrenton
four times and Seaside 10
times.
Gearhart received aid
fi ve times.
In addition, three Gear-
hart fi refi ghters responded
with mutual aid to the Miller
Road Fire in Wasco County.
Gearhart fi refi ghters and a
brush truck responded after
a state emergency confl a-
gration was declared.
Along with Clatsop
County Task Force 9, Ore-
gon also has three task forces
in California assisting with
the fi re seven miles from
the Oregon border, Gearhart
Fire Chief Josh Como said
at the Aug. 3 Gearhart City
Council meeting.
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