Oregon

Some of Eastern Oregon’s smallest communities look for wildfire protection through Firewise

Published

2 years ago

February 20, 2023

Some of Eastern Oregon’s smallest communities look for wildfire protection through Firewise

A bolt of lightning struck a tree simply outdoors Bruce Wilcox’s residence in Morrow County final yr, sending shards of wooden flying 40 yards away.

“It didn’t begin a hearth,” he stated. “It simply hit that tree and went to (the) floor. However we had been fortunate.”

Now, Wilcox helps his neighborhood, recognized domestically as Blake Ranch, turn out to be the county’s first to affix Firewise USA. He stated the nationwide program could possibly be the important thing to defending close by houses from the following catastrophic hearth.

Firewise is sponsored by the Nationwide Fireplace Safety Affiliation, with the Oregon Division of Forestry managing it on the state stage. By way of coaching and native hearth prevention initiatives, Firewise goals to encourage property house owners to take proactive measures to forestall fires from destroying their houses and companies.

A lot of Oregon’s smallest and most remoted communities have turn out to be Firewise websites. Blake Ranch isn’t the primary in Jap Oregon: small communities in Baker, Grant and Wallowa counties have already secured the designation.

ODF spokesperson Jessica Prakke stated these sparsely populated communities are among the many goal areas for the state.

“We’re undoubtedly attempting to succeed in these smaller communities which can be within the wildland-urban interface as a result of they are often probably the most vulnerable to wildfire at occasions,” she stated.

FILE: A tree service employee helps to create 200 ft of defensive area round a house to fulfill hearth security necessities in California.

Ric Francis / AP

Blake Ranch sits in southern Morrow County, about 16 miles south of the county seat in Heppner, which can be the placement of the closest hearth division. Situated on the fringe of federal forest land, Wilcox estimates that Blake Ranch has simply over 30 full-time residents, together with extra part-time residents and vacationers.

Wilcox himself splits his time between Blake Ranch and Hermiston in neighboring Umatilla County within the heat climate months. He loves the realm throughout the spring and summer season, however the latest wildfires have involved him.

Lightning-caused fires occur often close to Blake Ranch. Though the neighborhood has entry to water for hearth suppression, dispatching hearth engines from Heppner takes time.

Wilcox reached out to ODF after studying a couple of neighborhood in Wallowa County taking part within the Firewise program. Since then, ODF has despatched foresters to evaluate Blake Ranch properties for hearth readiness, and a number of other residents have taken a wildfire prevention class.

ODF doesn’t often take step one in terms of turning communities into Firewise websites, Prakke stated, as a result of the company wants community-buy in to make this system work. Wilcox stated some Blake Ranch residents are skeptical — they concern that this system would require them to take away timber they need to preserve. Wilcox thinks they might soften as soon as they see the work that’s being deliberate, like when crews begin clearing timber and different hearth threats this spring.

“They will additionally scale back the gas load,” Wilcox stated. “So within the occasion {that a} hearth did escape, it could be simpler to manage.”

One other neighborhood can be working towards changing into Morrow County’s second Firewise designee: Penland Lake, a neighborhood even additional south of Heppner.

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Oregon

Will No. 13 Oregon men’s basketball be able to slow down Braden Smith, No. 17 Purdue?

Published

4 hours ago

January 18, 2025

Press Room

Will No. 13 Oregon men’s basketball be able to slow down Braden Smith, No. 17 Purdue?

EUGENE — By far Oregon’s biggest remaining home game this season, a top 20 clash with two-time reigning Big Ten champion Purdue carries significant stakes.

The No. 13 Ducks (15-2, 4-2 Big Ten) are ahead of the No. 17 Boilermakers in the polls, but behind them in the conference standings and NET entering Saturday’s game (12 p.m., NBC) at Matthew Knight Arena.

Both teams could use the Quadrant 1 win to improve their respective resumes come Selection Sunday, with Purdue (14-4, 6-1) arguably in bigger need of the road victory with all of its losses coming away from home. But as jockeying at the top of the Big Ten intensifies these are the matchups that will go a long way to determining the top four seeds in the conference tournament, which all receive double byes.

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Oregon

Second man dies after being washed out to sea by king tides on Oregon Coast

Published

12 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Second man dies after being washed out to sea by king tides on Oregon Coast

A Happy Valley man died Wednesday after being washed out to sea by abnormally high tides just south of Depoe Bay.

It’s the second fatal incident blamed on the so-called “king tides” — the largest tides of the season — this winter.

Hong B Su, 45, was fishing on the rocks of the shoreline at the north end of Otter Crest Loop when he was “washed out to sea by a wave” at roughly 2:04 p.m., according to Oregon State Police.

Su was in the water for approximately 39 minutes before he was recovered by the United States Coast Guard. He was pronounced deceased when he reached the Depoe Bay Coast Guard station.

The tides were near their highest level of the month on Wednesday. The peak of the king tides was recorded on Jan. 12 at 9.84 feet in Newport, and on the day Su was swept into the sea, Jan. 15, they were just a bit lower at 9.33 feet, according to the National Weather Service. On Friday, high tide was under 8 feet. King tides is an unofficial term for the highest tides of the year.

In December, a 72-year-old North Bend man who went to photograph the king tides at the beach also died after apparently being swept into the surf. His body was recovered nearly a month later in Haynes Inlet.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

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Oregon

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after loss vs. Oregon State

Published

20 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after loss vs. Oregon State

Putting the ball in the basket didn’t seem to be a problem for Gonzaga during Thursday night’s battle with Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon.

The issue for the Bulldogs (14-5, 5-1 WCC), however, was on the other end of the floor. Led by 29 points from Michael Rataj and 20 from Nate Kingz, the Beavers (14-4, 4-2 WCC) made 58.5% of their field goal attempts to outlast the Zags in a 97-89 overtime final from Gill Coliseum.

“[Oregon State] made shots and [isolated] guys and posted us,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said of the Beavers’ attack strategy after the game. “And when we did guard them well, they hit some tough shots [and] some tough pull-ups.”

Here’s more from Few after the loss.

On Gonzaga’s struggles defensively against Oregon State:

Oregon State Beavers guard Nate Kingz (7) shoots the ball against defensive pressure by Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Khalif Battle (99). / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

“We played really, really good offense. We just could not get consistent stops for longer stretches. Came out in the second half with more intensity on the defensive end. [The Beavers] were still able to get some tough shots. I mean they had some real backbreakers, the bank 3 and contested 3. Even when we did play good defense, they were able to knock in some really tough shots. You almost have to play perfect on offense when you’re playing defense like that.”

On Graham Ike’s big night:

Gonzaga Bulldogs forward Graham Ike (13) shoots the ball over Oregon State Beavers forward Michael Rataj (12). / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

“He was great. Graham was terrific. He delivered time and time again in a high-level game against a very good, physical, big postman. You know, you also got a guard at the other end too. So again, our offense wasn’t the problem — our defense was at pretty much all five spots.”

On the positives the Bulldogs can take from the loss:

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Nolan Hickman (11) shoots a three point shot against Oregon State Beavers guard Nate Kingz (7). / Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

“We competed, great environment, fought, dug our way back in after our slow start; played some good ball there in the middle of the second half. We just had a couple of possessions, I think we missed a lay-up on one of those; and then again, just not even some of the stops, we foul a lot off the ball. We fouled on the ball. They were able to get critical free throws when they were in the bonus, and you just can’t do that.”