State to begin road to recovery MAX KIRKENDALL
Lincoln City News Guard
Governor Kate Brown said Oregonians have been pushed to their limits after a week of firefighting efforts across the state of Oregon. “It’s really hard for all of us to wrap our heads around the devastation that these fires have caused and the pain and the suffering that so many Oregonians endured over the past few days,” Brown said during a Monday, Sept. 14 press conference. So far, the Oregon State Medical Examiner has reported eight fire related fatalities and nine missing persons. Those statistics will continue to be updated daily. But on a positive note, Brown said fire crews are feeling optimistic with the current forecasted weather, which should provide help to their efforts as temperatures drop and winds subside. Additionally, calls for assistance are being answered and resource
crews from all over the country and Canada have been coming to help. “We expect structural firefighting teams from North Dakota and Michigan to join our response this week,” Brown noted. “Michigan, California and Washington are providing resources to our emergency coordination center. Vermont and Nevada have reached out asking how they can help.” FEMA is also on the ground in Oregon assisting with response. Gov. Brown said she recently sent a letter to President Donald Trump asking to declare a State of Disaster in Oregon, which will free up even more resources for state officials. Oregon is also working with the National Guard to distribute 250,000 N95 masks to agricultural workers and impacted tribes statewide as soon as possible. The masks will provide a certain level of protection to outdoor workers across the state.
“The smoke blanketing the state is a reminder that this tragedy has not yet come to an end,” Brown said. Brown is encouraging everyone to donate to Red Cross and the Oregon Food Bank for victims of these wildfires. To assist recovery efforts, the state is asking three foundations: Ford Family, Meyer Memorial Trust, and the Oregon Community Foundation, to help in the recovery efforts by kickstarting the 2020 Community Rebuilding Fund. Other organizations will also be encouraged to donate. “We will have a long road ahead, but I’m so heartened by these foundations and all Oregonians that are coming together right now,” Brown said. “The only way out of this crisis is through it and we’ll only get through it together.”
Fire Update Oregon Department of For-
Contributed Photo
A burned out car at the site of one of Oregon’s wildfires. estry Fire Protection Director, Doug Grafe, also provided an update on progress at the Monday press conference. Grafe said the state has passed the east wind event that rapidly moved fires
across Oregon and they have had four days of good firefighting conditions and continue making progress. More Fires, Page A8
Library offers school support LINDA PINKHAM The Pilot
Ruth Dixon and 4-H members from Brookings and Gold Beach strategize stall placement.
Photos courtesy of Margie House
Animal evacuation center ready in GB LINDA PINKHAM The Pilot
Evacuating with short notice is a nightmare at best. But what do you do when your extended family consists of horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, llamas, chickens or rabbits? It might be time to call Ruth Dixon at Curry County 4-H at the OSU Extension, located at the Event Center in Gold Beach. Last week Dixon and 10 volunteers began work to make an evacuation shelter possible at the Curry County fair arena. The crew set up stalls, pens and animal crates in preparation to accept as many as 20 horses; 20 cattle; 100 sheep, goats, llamas and alpacas in combination; and
100 poultry and rabbits combined. They do not plan on taking in dogs and cats, which can be housed at local pet shelters, but that could change. In addition to offering shelter for evacuated
animals, Dixon can help owners arrange for transport. Dixon says she’s benefitted greatly from her past experience during the 2017 Chetco Bar Fire when she set up a similar evacu-
ers, contractors and the general public. The action affects hunting and recreation access, as well as logging and forest management operations. Rayonier leases hunting rights on many of their forestlands, so these closures may affect hunters’ plans during current and upcoming hunting seasons.
The company has properties around Gold Beach, Grants Pass, Coos Bay and Reedsport. Those include lands owned by Rayonier, Pope Resources, Olympic Property Group (OPG), and managed by Olympic Resource Management (ORM). The fire has spread through approximately 10,000 acres of Rayonier forestlands in the Slater
ation center. “Everyone will want to know why we set up before any shelter is actually needed,” she said. “We are very prepared and proactive now because we’ve learned from the past. Us being prepared puts us at the top of the list for places to evacuate livestock.” She cites advance preparation and additional training as the key for a smoother operation this time if the shelter is needed. In addition to being the Curry County 4-H Educational Program assistant, she is an Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) delegate, My Youth Preparedness (My PI) coordina-
More Shelter, Page A8
Rayonier closes all forest lands to public access LINDA PINKHAM The Pilot
Rayonier closed all access to its forestland properties in California, Oregon and Washington until further notice as of Sept. 9 due to current fire activity and hazardous fire conditions. The closures affect access to their properties to employees, custom-
and Beachie Creek Fires as of Sept. 14, according to Alejandro Barbero, Rayonier’s Director of Strategic Development and Communications. The Slater Fire is responsible for the closure of Highway 199 from Gasquet, Calif. to Cave Junction, Ore. The Beachie Fire is east of Salem.
Curry Public Library welcomed 45 Central Curry School District students on Monday, Sept. 14 to a space volunteers and staff created over the weekend to provide support for students navigating online curriculum. The COVID-ready space was buzzing on the first day as staff spent the morning helping students orient to the space and COVID-19 protocols, get logged in to their classes, and get used to online learning. The program, dubbed the HIVE (Hybrid In-Person and Virtual Education) program, will provide a safe learning space at the library for 45 children in grades 3 through 12 without internet access and/or at-home care during the period of online education. CCSD is working on a plan to support K-2 grade students onsite at Riley Creek School. The HIVE program at the library will follow the school’s virtual learning schedule and provide supervision, meals, and computers to students in small groups, while maintaining COVID-19 distance and cleaning protocols. The daily management of the program is executed by ASCEND program director, Karlie Wright, who has been working on a tight timeline to make preparations. Wright will oversee five part-time staff, each coming to the program with extensive experience working with students. In mid-August, Central Curry School District (CCSD), like so many districts across the state and nation, made the decision to adopt a distance learning plan for the start of the 2020-21 school year. Until at least November, the only option for students in CCSD will be distance learning. This presents an enormous challenge for many families who rely on the schools for child care, meals, access to broadband internet, and more. During the summer, staff from Curry Public Library’s ASCEND