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Inside
Serving Baker County since 1870 • bakercityheralckcom
August 21, 2015
iN mis aomoN: L ocal • Health@Fitness • Outdoors • TV $ <
ICnights service
projects
Helpingmanthefire linesnear Unity
ELDORADO FIRE
Good Day Wish To A Subscriber
Chopper
A special good day to Herald subscriber Sen. Ron Wyden.
Free clothing swap planned The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has organized a free Back to School Clothing Swap. The event will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25, at the LDS Church at 2625 Hughes Lane. Items may be dropped off starting at 4 p.m. The emphasis is on "back-to-school" items such as clothing, shoes and backpacks, but all items in good condition are welcome, organizer Jill Gross said in announcing the event. More information is available by calling Gross at 541-523-2513.
Unity residents must boil water Residents within the City of Unity will remain on a boil water notice until another round of testing in the distribution is completed. All water samples pulled must return with a negative result. Representatives from the Baker County Health Department, Unity PublicWorks, and Malheur Environmental Health tested five samples in the distribution area on Wednesday Aug. 19. One of five of those samples had a positive result of total coliform and thus mandates another round of testing. Officials hope to be able to pull samples to be tested by a certified lab in Pendleton by TuesdayAug. 25. Results should be received by Wednesday, Aug. 26.
WEATHER
Today
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By La'akea Kaufman kkaufman©bakercltyherald.com
La'akea Kaufman /Baker City Herald
Inmates on the fire crew battling both the Cornet-Windy Ridge Complex and Eldorado fires take their lunch break and deal a hand of pinochle. One hundred inmates are camping out at Unity Lake Campground.
re oninmates atf e azes By La'akea Kaufman kkaufman©bakercltyherald.com
Oregon inmates from five minimum-security prisons have gone from behind barstothefrontlinesof the flames in Northeastern Oregon. The Unity Lake Campground is serving as a makeshift settlement with large blue 20-man tents for the inmates. Smaller family-sized tents house the correctional officers. Portable shower units the size of shipping containers sit in the parking lot along with trailers holding clothing and camping, kitchen and food supplies. About a dozen officers and 100 inmates from Santiam, Powder River, South Fork Forest Camp, Warner Creek and Snake River Correctional Facilities are stationed at this fire camp fighting the Cornet-WindyRidge and Eldorado fires.
Their duties are threefold, said inmate Richard Knox of Powder River Correctional Facility at Baker City. 'You've got kitchen work, camp support — which is like general camp maintenance —and fi refighting," Knox said. Officers and inmates stationed at the campground are either out fighting fires, or are busy preparing the sack lunch meals for other men and women who are. Brad Cain, Powder River superintendent, and Fire Program manager for the Oregon Department of Corrections, says the partnership between the prisons and the Oregon Department of Forestry is mutually beneficial. "It's really grown in the past eight years, all institutions now have a play in the fire service," Cain said. There are 370 inmates trained and available to fight fires in the state of Oregon,
Dimmed sunshine Full forecast on the back of the B section.
Correction:The name of Master Gardener Richard McClarin was misspelled in a story in the Aug. 5 Baker City Herald. McClarin has participated in the gardening program at Powder River with Robert Gentili since 2011.
Cain said. The inmates sign up to receive training in February and March in preparation for the summer fire season. 'They receive the same fire suppression training as all the other firefighters,"said Patrick Wiebelhaus, an officer with Warner Creek Correctional Facility at Lakeview."They know first aid and CPR. ODF iOregon Department of Forestry) comes in and leads the training and we assist them." But the inmate camp is separated from its civilian counterpartoperating outof Burnt River School at Unity. This is because inmate camps operateby different rules, says Lt. Jim Edison of Two Rivers Correctional Institution at Umatilla. The inmates might be firetrained, low-security prisoners camping in the great outdoors, but they are still serving their time.
''We've got high expectations for them," Edison said. 'There's no drinking, smoking tobacco,orfraternizing with other people. It's mostly for public safety, we're still responsiblefortheircustody and control." For their part, the inmates seem grateful for the change of scenery, and for the opportunity to help out. On Tuesday afternoon, a group of inmates from Powder River take their lunch break at a shaded picnic table and deal a hand of pinochle. "A few of us here are from Baker City and it's cool because we get to help out our own community," said Josh Johnson, a Powder River inmate. Johnson says the most challenging part about the work is getting accustomed to the change of pace and personalities. See InmatesIPage 6A
Cornet-Windy Ridgenearscontainment By La'akea Kaufman
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• Helicopter makes "hard landing" near Eldorado fire
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• Strong winds today are expected tofan theEagle Complex Fire, which is spottin gacrossEagleCreek
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BRIEFING
kkaufman©bakercltyherald.com
The Cornet-Windy Ridge fire just south of Baker City is 75 percent contained as of this morning, according to fire officials. The fire has burned 103,887 acres, three homes, and multiple outbuildings and cars. Four hundred and eighty-two fire personnel continue to work on the fire. Poor to fair nighttime humidity recovery and high winds provide added ventilation to the fire last night, but the fire remains well within containment lines. Continued fire growth is expected with cooling of sections of the line where burnouts and line construction have been successful.
T ODAY Issue 45, 16 pages
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The EagleComplex Fire,burning 20 miles Northwest of Richland, has burned an estimated 5,525 acres with areas to the north and east seeing the mostactivity.Itwaszeropercent contained today. There are 252 fire personnel working on the blaze. The fire has been spotting across Eagle Creek, according to Eagle Complex Fire Officials. A Red Flag Warning remains in effect for strong winds and low relative humidities through 11 o'clock tonight. Northwest winds are expected at 10 to 20 mph with 15 to 30 mph winds over the ridges, according to the National Weather Service. This will likely cause an increase in fire activity. A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or they will be shortly. Two public meetings were scheduled today for the Eagle Complex Fire. One was set for noon at the Lions Club in Halfway, and the other for 2 p.m. at Richland Town Park.
The Eldorado fire burning five miles southeastofUnity isat20,611 acres and is 50 percent contained. Firefighters continue to prepare for the looming weather event that is expected to bring up to 30-mph northwest wind gusts to the Eldorado fire as early as 9 o'clock this morning. The incident meteorologist and fire behavior analyst cautioned firefighters to "keep their guard up,"with a Red Flag Warning issued until late this evening. The day operations chief asked resources to be "nimble." If any section of the line gets challenged, he vowed to "bring a gun to a knife fight" by shifting resources in response to catch the fire. 492 personnelarebattling the blaze. Minor south-to- southeast spread is expected due to winds. The National Weather Service has issued an unhealthy iRedl air quality advisory for Baker and Malheur counties due to unhealthy air quality conditions caused by nearby fires.
C o m m u nity News....3A He a rth ........................1C Ob i t uaries..... Cr o s sword........... 5B-6B H o r o scope........... 5B-6B O p i n i on D e a r Abby...............10B Ne w s of Record........2A Ou t d o ors......
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Two pilots walked away with only minor injuries after one engine failed on the twin-engine Sikorsky S-61A helicopter they were flyingover the Eldorado fireWednesday night. Gary Wiltrout, 67, of Boise, said he and his co-pilot ScottTalada,65,of Baker City ,had been fl ying for about six hours on Wednesdaydumping water on the Eldorado fire when the engine failure occurred about 7:15 p.m. They were taking water from a pond known as Murphy's dip, near Highway 26 leaving Unity. Wiltrout said that up to that point, there was no indication there was anything wrong with the helicopter. ''We had just picked up a bucket of water, then the engine rpm changed and we started losing altitude," Wiltrout said."I got rid of the water right away."
iSikorskys can hold about a thousand gallons of wateradded totheir weight of 11,000 pounds.) Then, they lost an engine. "I tried to make it out with one engine,"Wiltrout said. SeeCrashlPage 6A
County seeks delay in hunting seasons By Chris Collins ccolllns©bakercltyherald.com
The Baker County Board of Commissioners has asked Gov. Kate Brown to consider delaying hunting seasons scheduled to open soon. In a letter written Thursday, commissioners outlined the damage already done to public and private lands in Northeastern Oregon by wildfiresthat have ravaged the region. They asked for a delay ofhunting seasons thataresettoopen in August and September. Archery season is scheduled to open Aug. 27, and upland game bird season on Sept. 1. SeeCountyIPage 8A
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