JOSEPH FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND FROM LAKE WHEN TRACTOR CATCHES FIRE

For the third time in slightly more than two weeks, Joseph volunteer firefighters responded from the Wallowa Lake fire station to a fire call in rural Wallowa County Monday night, Dec. 12.

Joseph Assistant Fire Chief Matt Walker and Joseph Firefighters Doug Buska, Dusty Creps and Steve Strampe rolled Engine 5 shortly after sundown when a tractor was reported afire inside a barn near Joseph.

Because other Joseph fire crews and firefighters from Enterprise also were en route and closer, the lake crew was directed to the Joseph fire station to "stage" in case of a second emergency or more help was needed at the fire.

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FIRES NEAR ENTERPRISE AND JOSEPH – FIREFIGHTERS ROLL FROM LAKE STATION

A house fire in rural Enterprise Sunday morning, Nov. 27, and a reported wildfire in rural Joseph in the evening rousted two Joseph firefighters living at Wallowa Lake, who responded both times on Engine 5 from the lake fire station.

Joseph Assistant Fire Chief Matt Walker and Joseph Firefighter Doug Buska, owner of Wallowa Lake Resort, rolled when the Joseph Fire Department was dispatched on a mutual aid assignment on Valley Heights Drive, where a fire had broken out in an unoccupied home. Later, they headed out when a slash-pile burn blazed out of control on Hurricane Creek Road.

Each time, Walker and Buska were ordered to the Joseph fire station to have Engine 5 stand by as the "second-out" engine in case another emergency occurred. Joseph's usual second-out engine was out of service for repairs.

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JOSEPH FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND FROM LAKE STATIONTO BIG NIGHT FIRE IN RURAL JOSEPH

Flames spread over farm acreage as firefighters work to contain wildfire outside Joseph

Firefighters from throughout Wallowa County, including Wallowa Lake, converged on agricultural acreage in rural Joseph about 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, after a homeowner’s burn pile blazed out of control due to high winds. 

The resulting fire blackened 56 acres of farmland in the Alpine Lane area, but firefighters kept the flames from spreading to nearby homes, businesses, a hay barn and hay bales. No one was injured.

The blaze grew quickly as wind gusts reached 45 miles an hour at times, and the orange-yellow glow could be seen in the darkened sky for miles. The homeowner called 9-1-1 when his burn pile spread to nearby dry grass, according to Joseph Fire Chief Tom Clevenger.

Engine and water tender crews responded from Joseph, Enterprise and Wallowa fire departments, Wallowa Lake Rural Fire Protection District and the U.S. Forest Service.

High winds had been in the local weather forecast. Homeowners and farmers planning to burn should consult weather predictions before lighting any fire, Clevenger cautioned.

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CLEVENGER BECOMES DISTRICT FIRE CHIEF

Wallowa Lake fire protection responsibilities have been added to Joseph Fire Chief Tom Clevenger’s duties.

 

Directors of Wallowa Lake Fire Protection District appointed Clevenger as the district’s fire chief on Oct. 28.

The district board agreed to an initial one-year appointment with a $200 monthly stipend to cover mileage and other out-of-pocket expenses. In Joseph, the fire chief is elected annually by the city’s volunteer firefighters. Clevenger was first selected by the Joseph department in 2009. 

The board created a job description for the position of fire chief that outlines the primarily administrative nature of the job. Because the district contracts with the city of Joseph for firefighting services, Clevenger’s duties under this appointment will be primarily administrative. The board will retain budgeting and contract negotiations authority. 

“The one volunteer firefighter at the meeting was a strong supporter of our appointing Chief Clevenger,” Board President Tom Groat said.

The action was significant in that the district hadn’t had a fire chief for several years. The board’s vote to appoint Clevenger ws unanimous.

Clevenger’s biggest short-term assignment is to have the Insurance Services Office, which sets the district’s fire rating, reinstate the district fire station.

Joseph firefighters living at the lake are now responding from the station so the district can move toward the station being considered functional by the ISO and those insurance carriers that use its rating.

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FIRE CALL BRINGS LOWER FIRE INSURANCE RATES CLOSER

A fire call on Oct. 11 brought Wallowa Lake property owners halfway to probable reduction of fire insurance rates that were increased after firefighters stopped responding from the lake station as a vote of no-confidence in the then-fire board.

The halfway point was reached when four Joseph firefighters living at the lake responded from the lake fire station on Engine 5 to a smoking power pole near Wallowa Lake Resort. It was the first 9-1-1 call at the lake in months.

The national Insurance Services Office, whose ratings are followed by many insurance carriers, requires at least two responses with four firefighters before it will consider the station to be functioning.

When a second response is recorded, Fire Chief Tom Clevenger will report to the ISO and request that it reinstate the station and change the rating.

The ISO increased the rating earlier this year when it learned that there were no firefighters to respond from the lake. The firefighters declined to serve from the district’s station after district directors – none of whom is on the current board – took several actions including hiring an attorney to challenge sections of the pending fire protection contract with the city of Joseph.

Board members also had disparaged Clevenger, the Joseph fire chief, in public meetings and stopped notifying him of board meetings. Additionally, they attempted end runs around Clevenger, going directly to Joseph city officials, and there was controversy around giving district equipment to the Joseph department and equipping a “fireboat” against the advice of the fire chief.

The ensuing uproar caused lake residents and property owners to threaten a recall of the board. Rather than face a recall election, board members resigned one by one and were replaced by appointees.

Four of the current board members were elected in May and the fifth member was appointed in September.

A second fire call on Oct. 29 fell short of qualifying for ISO consideration when only three firefighters responded to the station. The call was cancelled anyway

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FIRE BOARD NOW AT FULL STRENGTH

Firefighting veteran Bob Young, owner of a house at Wallowa Lake and a resident of Falls City, Ore., is the newest member of the Wallowa Lake Rural Fire Protection District board of directors.

Young frequently spends time vacationing and hunting in Wallowa County. In Falls City, he is the city’s volunteer fire chief and station chief of Polk County Fire Protection District No. 1. He was appointed to a board vacancy by the Wallowa Lake fire board on Friday, Sept. 30. Following several weeks of requests for applications, he was the sole applicant.

Young joins Chuck Anderson and James Burton of Wallowa Lake, John Gorsline of Joseph and Tom Groat of Pendeton as board members. Gorsline and Groat own property in the district.

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WALLOWA LAKE RURAL FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT
BOARD VACANCY

The Wallowa Lake Rural Fire Protection District has a vacancy on its five-member board of directors, which governs the district. The board seeks applicants for appointment to the vacant seat.

Qualifications:

• Registered voter living in the district, or

• Owner of property in the district.

The appointee must be available to attend monthly meetings and possibly occasional special meetings. Some of the meetings may be attended by teleconference.

Please submit a letter of interest to:

Wallowa Lake Rural Fire Protection District
P.O. Box 922
Joseph, OR 97846

Deadline to receive letters of interest: Sept. 23, 2011. The board will review the letters at its Sept. 30 public meeting and may make an appointment at that time.

For information: Chuck Anderson, board secretary, 541-432-0209 or writeronfire@znet.com.

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