JOSEPH FIREFIGHTERS DOUSE RURAL GRASS FIRE BEFORE IT SPREADS OUT OF CONTROL

A quick response by Joseph Fire and Rescue volunteers extinguished a small grass fire on Klages Road in rural Joseph before it could spread beyond the less-than-an-acre it blackened Monday morning, July 30.

Among those on the scene was Assistant Chief Matt Walker, a Wallowa Lake resident who responded from Enterprise, where he was at work.

The blaze broke out shortly after 7 a.m. when a malfunctioning power line dropped sparks onto the dry grass. The property owner noticed the fire and called 9-1-1 when he went to investigate why his irrigation pumps had stopped.

Assisting were the Oregon Department of Forestry, responsible for wildland fires in nearly all of Wallowa County, and Pacific Power.

Grass fires like this one also can be started by lightning or carelessness, such as burning trash without a permit or tossing a lighted cigarette from a passing car.