JUNE 25, 2015 | OKANOGAN VALLEY GAZETTE-TRIBUNE
Commissioners declare county-wide burn ban Early fire season forecast by DNR BY GARY A. DE VON EDITOR@GAZETTE-TRIBUNE.COM
OKANOGAN - Okanogan County Commissioners have Declared Hazardous Fire Conditions and issued Resolution 62-2015, a county-wide burn ban against outdoor burning of combustible materials. Combustible materials may include, but are not limited to, outdoor burning of yard waste and none emergent agricultural burning. See the resolution for further explanation. Use of gas or charcoal fired BBQ’s are allowed. This follows a state ban announced by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that started June 17 on DNR-protected lands east of the crest of the Cascade Mountains. This was expanded to include the western side of the state on June 22. The Washington State burn ban applies to state forests, state parks and forestlands under DNR fire protection. It does not include federally owned lands. “With years of persistent drought on the eastern Washington landscape, and predictions by the National Weather Service for a hotter and drier summer than normal, it’s prudent to take precautions now,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark. “This burn ban will help protect people, forests and property.” In 2015 so far, there have been 241 wildfire starts throughout the state. Last year’s fire season was the biggest on record in Washington, with the largest state fire ever, the Carlton Complex, destroying more than 250,000 acres. More than 1 million acres of Washington’s landscape has been consumed by wildfire since 2009. DNR is awaiting legislative action this summer on requests for $4.5 million for additional firefighting teams and equipment, and $20 million to improve the health of drought-ravaged, flammable forests. The burn ban applies to all outdoor burning on DNR-protected forestlands with the exception of recreational fires in approved fire pits within designated state,
county, municipal and other campgrounds. Fireworks and incendiary devices, such as exploding targets, sky lanterns, or tracer ammunition, are illegal on all DNR-protected forestlands. Charcoal briquettes are also not allowed. The statewide burn ban will run through Sept. 30, 2015. Campfire restrictions have not yet been declared on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National
probably be put in place sooner than in past years. Forest visitors need to factor that into their plans and remember to find out if restrictions are in place before heading to the national forest. On May 15, Governor Jay Inslee declared a statewide drought emergency. “Other parts of the west had less than normal snowpack this winter, unlike last year when Oregon and Washington were
“With years of persistent drought on the eastern Washington landscape, and predictions by the National Weather Service for a hotter and drier summer than normal, it’s prudent to take precautions now” Peter Goldmark, Commissioner of Public Lands
Forest, but an earlier than normal fire season is being predicted by the Forest Service. According to the National Geographic Area Coordination Center long range forecast, wildfire season is likely to occur earlier than usual in most areas across the west this summer. In addition, above normal significant wildland fire potential, above normal temperatures, and below average precipitation for much of Washington State are expected. “The extent and duration of our fire season will depend upon the amount of precipitation we receive during May and June,” said Okanogan-Wenatchee NF Fire Staff Officer Keith Satterfield. “The plants in the woods are greening up ahead of schedule and grasses have already grown tall in some places. With this early green up comes early curing and drying with the potential for an earlier start to fire season.” Low snowpack and warmer temperatures have allowed fuels to dry earlier than usual. Low snowpack means that high elevation fuels will dry earlier in the season and be available to burn if lightning occurs. “Once summer arrives the biggest factor in determining the kind of fire season we will experience will be the number of thunder storms passing over the forest and how wet those storms are and also the amount of human caused fires,” Satterfield said. Campfire restrictions will
the main areas affected by lower than normal snowpack. Due to this, there may be competition for firefighting resources this summer,” Satterfield said. It is normal for firefighting resources to be moved where they are most needed. There will be competition for resources, nationally as the number of wildfires increases. Limited wildfire fighting resources include airtankers, helicopters and other specialized equipment or personnel. This summer, over 300 firefighting personnel will be working on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Currently, every ranger district has resources available to respond to a wildfire. “Early this spring we sent crews to a fire that started in Canada and burned across the border onto federal lands. We’ve also extinguished a number of lightning and human caused fires in the past couple weeks,” Satterfield said. With the expected long, hot and dry fire season people are advised to be especially careful with fire when recreating in the woods and grasslands. Homeowners should follow FireWise practices around homes and cabins. People living in high fire prone areas need to be prepared when fire season arrives by having evacuation plans in place and knowing ahead of time what items/belongings to take if directed to evacuate.
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KILLING | FROM A1 the information but the suspects had left.” The next day, at around 1:35 p.m., deputies were detailed again to 36 E. Sourdough Rd., when it was reported that the suspects had returned to the residence. Approximately five minutes later dispatch received a call from the same area that two subjects had just been run over, said Rogers. “When deputies and detectives arrived on scene they discovered a female subject in the roadway who was pronounced dead at the scene and a second male subject who was injured but alive,” Rogers said. The investigation shows that the two suspects, James J. Faire, 55 of Tonasket and Angelina M. Nobilis, 51 of Kent had returned to the residence. “Apparently Faire and Nobilis knew Finegold had been gone and decided to move into his place, basically squatting while Finegold was gone. Also, Finegold is missing property and money from the residence,” said Rogers. When Faire and Nobilis arrived back on the property, Finegold was there along with two other
and drove to Tonasket and called law enforcement from there. Faire and Nobilis were contacted by law enforcement and later were arrested and booked for first degree murder and first degree assault. The vehicle has been impounded and weapons that Faire had were also taken. The investigation at this time is still ongoing, according to the sheriff.
James J. Faire
everyone was having fun. Tam Hutchinson, the Athletic Director reported two students competed in state in golf and two girls competed in pole vault for state track. “Nick Hugus was an alternate for tennis and our doubles team missed by one point,” he said. During the public comment section of the meeting, parent Lisa Cole asked for a clarification on the district’s bullying policy. “It’s kind of generalized on how you handle a bully. How do you handle bullying, threatening and name calling?” she asked, wanting to know if the response was based on the type of bullying involved. “We have changed our policy in the last couple of years as the state made new guidelines,” replied Kristin Sarmiento, the principal at the high school. “We look at each incident on an individual basis, we get them counseling, talk about behavior that is appropriate and inappro-
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board approved a consent agenda of several items. These included policy on public access to school district records; renewal of the agreement with Compass Group for food service and approval of an AVID Products and Services Agreement. The board also accepted the resignation of teacher Cenah Whiteaker and hiring of spring coaches. Shaw will be re-hired as business manager, Joan Hoehn as K-6 principal and Sarmiento as high school principal. Evaluations of Quick are ongoing by the board and he has not yet been offered a contract. The board is expected to make that decision at their next meeting. Ila Hall, Shelly Martin and Jennifer Burgard were approved as the elementary summer school teachers. The next meeting of the Oroville School Board is scheduled for Monday, June 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the District Office located at 816 Juniper Street.
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priate,” Sarmiento added. “Some students have been suspended on the first incident because of the severity.” The principal said parents always have the option on whether it should be handled at school or go to the police. “We have been meeting on the discipline so there are changes coming,” she added. The public comments were followed by end-of-season coaches’ reports from Dane Forrester, the softball coach and Hutchinson, the baseball coach. “I thought the girls worked hard, we had five eighth graders nearly all season long... there were always three in the outfield,” said Forrester. “The baseball team had a lot of fun, we had a lot of young players,” said Hutchinson. “It wasn’t a success with wins, but we always drew big crowds.” After returning from a closeddoor executive session where they evaluated Supt. Quick, the
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friends, Abrantes and Long and other witnesses. “The investigation shows that there was a heated argument between the subjects and then Faire pulled a gun on the subjects and threatened them,” the sheriff said. “Faire then got back into this pickup with Nobilis and ran Long and Abrantes over.” Faire and Nobilis left the scene
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