FIRE BOARD TO MEET SEPT. 28 ON PAVING OF APRON OUTSIDE FIRE STATION

The Board of Directors of Wallowa Lake Rural Fire Protection District will meet at 10 a.m. in a special meeting on the porch of the Edelweiss Inn at Wallowa Lake. The sole agenda item is the award of a contract for paving of the gravel apron in front of the fire station.

Here is the agenda:

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SOME FOREST RESTRICTIONS RELAXED

Public-use restrictions regarding campfires, chainsaws, smoking and off-road vehicle travel in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest will be lifted as of Sept. 18.

“I would like to remind the public that although cooler temperatures and recent rain have reduced the need for public use restrictions, we are still in fire season,” said Bret Ruby, fire management officer. 

“Fires should be built in a fire ring and should never be left unattended,” he said. “Please help us prevent wildfires. Extinguish campfires by adding water and stirring the coals until the fire is completely out.”

Forest visitors are reminded to obtain the most current public use restriction information before heading out. If you are unsure of which restrictions apply, please call 541-426-5546 or visit www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman

Fire restrictions within one-fourth mile of the Snake River, in the Eagle Cap Wilderness and along the Grande Ronde River are not affected and will remain in place.

To report a wildfire, please call 911.

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DISTRICT TO SUPPLY GPS UNITS TO JOSEPH FIRE, TURNOUTS TO LAKE RESPONDERS

Joseph firefighters will find addresses more quickly with GPS units being purchased for their fleet by Wallowa Lake Rural Fire Protection District.

District directors voted Monday, Sept. 16, to equip Joseph Fire Department engines, water tenders and its rescue unit with Garmin GPS units.

“Lake homeowners will benefit because our Joseph firefighters will be more effective responding to lake fire calls,” Board President Chuck Anderson said.

The purchase totals $1,400 including lifetime mapping updates. The district had allocated funds for the purchase during public budget discussions in June.

Also approved by directors was a system to begin replacing firefighting “turnout” suits for Joseph firefighters who respond from the lake fire station.

The board agreed to fund a full single set of turnouts for $2,600. The district plans to buy a turnout set each year until all lake responders’ turnouts are replaced, Anderson said. At the board’s suggstion, Anderson agreed to seek grant support for the longterm project.

Joseph turnouts in use today were purchased in 2005 and are rated for a maximum of 10 years before they lose their fire-resistant qualities, according to lake Fire Chief Jeffrey Wecks.

The purchases are part of a continuing effort to support Joseph Fire with equipment that it can’t otherwise afford, Anderson said.

Board members also agreed to install a permanent air compressor in the station with plumbing to each of the station’s three apparatus bays to maintain air-brake capacity in parked vehicles so they are fully capable of responding. Most fire stations in the U.S. have such a system.

The board assigned Wecks to install the system for $1,500 after other estimates were much higher.

Currently, a portable compressor is connected to the engine in the lake station. Directors agreed during budget discussions that the permanent system is needed because Joseph expects to station a wildland engine in the station soon and the station eventually could maintain a third vehicle.

In other action, the board reviewed Wecks’ performance as fire chief after his first 10 months and agreed to maintain his agreement as the district’s chief. “We agreed that he has done a great job for us,” Anderson said.

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FIRE BOARD TO MEET MONDAY, SEPT. 16

The Board of Directors of Wallowa Lake Rural Fire Protection District will meet at the lake fire station at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16. As always, the meeting is open to the public and the board welcomes input. Here is the agenda (the executive session is private, as provided in ORS 192.660). Click the agenda to enlarge.

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SAFETY FAIR EDUCATES HOMEOWNERS, SURPRISES RETIRED CHIEF

Joseph firefighters dismantled a truck cab with the Hurst Jaws of Life, some kids got a fire engine ride and recently retired Fire Chief Tom Clevenger was surprised with a long-delayed gift from the Costa Mesa, Calif., Fire Department.

There was plenty of action in the space of two hours Saturday, Aug. 31, at a Home Safety Fair co-sponsored by the Joseph Fire Department and Wallowa Lake Rural Fire Protection District.

Around 100 lake homeowners and vacationers who happened by also learned about the benefits of Life Flight memberships and inspected Joseph’s newest firefighting vehicles, the four-wheel-drive Engine 1 and Brush Truck 9, a converted military Humvee, as well as Wallowa Memorial Hospital’s new state-of-the-art ambulance.    

The Humvee and ambulance received lots of attention, but the biggest impression was made with a demonstration of the hydraulic Jaws of Life. Firefighters Clevenger and Bob Lion and Chief Jeffrey Wecks made quick work of a pickup cab, removing doors and the roof, turning the cab into what would have been a convertible if it wasn’t already wrecked.

Clevenger was the center of a short ceremony during which he was presented with a framed resolution of appreciation from the fire district’s board of directors and a traditional fire department retirement-badge wallet from Costa Mesa, where he was a career firefighter before moving here.

District Board President Chuck Anderson explained that the wallet had been intended to be presented to Clevenger upon his retirement but inexplicably wasn’t. Costa Mesa Interim Fire Chief Fred Seguin discovered the wallet as he was researching Clevenger’s employment records at Anderson’s request for the text of the resolution.

“I was honored to be the one to present the wallet and our resolution to Tom,” Anderson said afterward. “His contribution to the fire service in Wallowa County has been tremendous, and it was about time we let him know how much we appreciate him.”

Fire protection and rescue services in the Wallowa Lake basin are provided by Joseph Fire Department under a contract with the fire district.

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