The latest and most comprehensive coverage of local News, Sports, Business, and Community News stories in the Klamath Basin, Southern Oregon and around the state of Oregon from Wynne Broadcasting’s KFLS News/Talk 1450AM / 102.5FM, The Herald & News, and BasinLife.com, and powered by Mick Insurance, your local health and Medicare agents.
Monday, July 12, 2021
Klamath Basin Weather
Today Patchy smoke, sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Calm wind becoming west 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon. Overnight smoke with a low around 67.
Tuesday Patchy smoke. Sunny and hot, with a high near 98.
Wednesday Patchy smoke. Sunny and hot, with a high near 96. Overnight smoke with a low around 55.
Thursday Sunny, with a high near 92.
Friday Sunny, with a high near 85.
Saturday Sunny, with a high near 88.
Today’s Headlines
Bootleg Fire Update as of 9:30AM Monday, July 12, 2021
Firefighters, emergency managers and other public safety officials on Sunday faced the fifth day in a row of extreme, intense fire behavior on the Bootleg Fire, as hot, dry, windy weather persists in the area. The fire is now estimated at nearly one hundred and fifty thousand acres, or over 61 square miles.
Those conditions escalated Saturday afternoon, resulting life-threatening risk to public and emergency responder safety. Conditions were so extreme that firefighters disengaged and moved to predetermined safety zones.
This extreme fire behavior resulted in approximately four miles of fire growth both to the east and north. The fire moved through Sycan Estates, crossed the East-West road, and burned about eight additional miles along the high voltage powerline corridor (for a total of 12 miles). Damage to structures and infrastructure is being assessed; some structures have been lost.
There have been no reported fatalities. On the south west side of the fire, light winds and lighter fuel conditions allowed firefighters, structure protection teams, and air support to be successful in minimizing fire growth to the south (communities of Klamath Forest Estates/Moccasin Hills, Tablelands).
Western movement of the fire toward Chiloquin was also minimal.
The Klamath County Sheriff’s Office has begun to issue citations and will make arrests if necessary to keep people out of the level 3 evacuation areas.
They have advised people to evacuate over the last several days. Some have not listened to those warnings and continue to travel within the restricted area. This violates the closure restrictions and interferes with firefighting and lifesaving efforts. The Klamath County Sheriff’s office is advising that if you are in a Level 3 Evacuation Area to please evacuate immediately.
This comes as unnecessary traffic in the area east of Sprague River Rd has been hampering fire response and security.
Bootleg Incident Web: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7609/
Bootleg Team Facebook: www.facebook.com/northwestteam10
The Lava Fire, still burning near Mount Shasta in Northern California, damaged a portion of the Union Pacific Railroad on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
The damage has forced freight traffic to reroute, created delays and cancellations for Amtrak passengers, and has left Klamath Falls without passenger rail service.
The Coast Starlight train will not serve stops between Eugene and Sacramento until at least mid-July, according to Amtrak. South of the fire, the Coast Starlight will operate only between Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Customers north of the fire can continue to travel between Seattle and Eugene, but trains from either direction are no longer arriving in Klamath Falls. The portion of the tracks scorched by the Lava Fire east of Highway 97 near Hotlum, Calif., is known as the Dry Canyon Bridge. Union Pacific engineers have been assessing the damage, UP said in an announcement posted June 29.
The damage to the rail infrastructure is impacting its operations between Redding, Calif. and Eugene, noting that customers may experience delays in excess of 72 hours.
Meantime, The Jack Fire has now reached 10,937 acres with 10% containment.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has issued evacuation orders for areas near the Jack Fire in the Umpqua National Forest.The fire area is still running hot and dry and above normal for this time of year.
Winds continue to be out of the north and northwest while wind speeds remain near normal.
This summer, for the first time in its 55-year history, Iron Gate Fish Hatchery will not release young salmon into the Klamath River.
Hatchery management cited the river’s exceptionally poor water quality and heightened fish disease risk as reasons for keeping hatchery smolts in captivity until conditions improve in the fall.
Over the past two weeks, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has trucked more than a million smolts to two other hatcheries in the Klamath watershed, where they will continue to be looked after through the remainder of the summer. Once the Klamath River cools and the threat of salmon disease wanes, CDFW will return them to Iron Gate and release them.
The decision comes on the heels of a staggering juvenile fish kill on the mainstem Klamath River that began in May. At one point, as many as 97% of sample salmon captured by fishery biologists from the Yurok Tribe were infected with the parasite C. shasta, and many of them were already dead.
Across the Basin, the lack of irrigated lake water is bound to wreak havoc on a regional economy based in agriculture, experts say.
It will take at least months for researchers and public officials to tally and analyze the data required to measure the economic damage of having little water to aid the increasingly dry acreage. Understanding what economic damage the Klamath Basin may be in for this year begins with understanding the 2001 water crisis — the first total, though temporary reduction in the allocation of irrigated lake water to farmers in the Project’s century-long history.
Although nearly 20 years old, that wide-ranging report still has some sway today. In a mid-June hearing of the U.S. House’s Committee on Natural Resources, the congressional representative for southern and eastern Oregon, Rep. Cliff Bentz, told Department of the Interior Secretary Debra Haaland that the “the losses in the Basin are calculated to be about $400 million.”
Some drought-related relief funding is already available to Basin landowners and producers via the USDA’s National Resources Conservation Service and the Klamath Project Drought Response Agency.
To learn more about eligibility for the KPDRA’s 2021 assistance program, the agency has provided more detailed information on its website.
Tails wagged Friday during the official leash-cutting ceremony at the new dog park in Klamath Falls.
The dog park, located at Kit Carson Park, has been open to pups and their humans since June 24 and was made possible through a collaboration between the city and the Klamath Falls Dog Park Association. It is the city’s first official dog park. It isn’t just fun for dogs, but it’s also an opportunity to chat and socialize with other dog owners, and a place to get some exercise.
The Oregon Emergency Nurses Association of Southern Oregon named Aaron Arntz, an emergency department nurse at Sky Lakes, its first-ever Emergency Nurse of the Year.
Arntz has been charge nurse in the department for 25 years and is a 12-year volunteer with the “Operation Prom Night Injury Prevention Program.” He has experience as a flight nurse, is a volunteer firefighter and EMS provider for Klamath County Fire District No. 4. His nomination was submitted by Sky Lakes physicians, nurse peers, and fire district officials.
Klamath Irrigation District was one of 23 special districts in Oregon awarded funds from the Special Districts Association of Oregon to pay a summer intern.
KID was awarded $3,000 from the program.
To be considered, Klamath Irrigation District first submitted an application outlining the details of their project, the benefits it will bring to the district, and how they will utilize a summer intern. The maximum grant of $3,000 that has been awarded the 23 recipients must be matched by the district at 50%. At the end of the summer, recipients submit a project summary and receipts to SDAO. Thanks to this state-wide program, college-level students who seek to learn more about local government careers will have more opportunities to secure summer internships.
The City of Klamath Falls Police Department Junior Police Academy is held from August 2-5, 2021 and designed for children ages 9-11.
The course, taught by Klamath Falls Police Officers, provides kids with opportunities to learn about a career in law enforcement. Though activities, participants will receive demonstrations from and interact with patrol officers, bicycle patrol officers, canine officers, SWAT officers and detectives.
Participants will receive a junior police academy shirt and will experience the structured design of a police academy. Junior academy hours are from 9:30 to 2 p.m. each day, with lunch provided. Applications are available at the Klamath Falls Police Department or online at kfpd.us. Class size is limited to first 20 approved applicants. The cost is free to all participants.
Around the state of Oregon
The Oregon Health Authority reports that COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are continuing to fall in the state.
The agency says new COVID-19 cases were down 13-percent last week from the previous week. Hospitalizations declined 40-percent. The number of deaths, meanwhile, increased from seven to 19. Oregon reported two new deaths and 212 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday.
The chlorine shortage that was impacting water departments across the Pacific Northwest is over.
Westlake Chemical in Longview, Washington has repaired a transformer and is back in operation. The Portland Water Bureau has resumed normal operations. They reduced chlorine to the minimum levels required during the shortage to make their supply last longer. They have now returned the amount of chlorine added to drinking water to the regular level.
The Jack Fire has now reached 10,937 acres with 10% containment. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has issued evacuation orders for areas near the Jack Fire in the Umpqua National Forest.
The fire area is still running hot and dry and above normal for this time of year. Winds continue to be out of the north and northwest while wind speeds remain near normal.
On the western edge of the fire, resources continue to brush out vegetation while holding and securing the line along the river and HWY 138.
On the eastern flank, crews continue burning vegetation along containment lines moving south towards Dry Creek.
In the southeast, near Dry Creek, resources have burned vegetation along containment lines to connect the 4760 Road to the areas that have been cleared of vegetation near Dry Creek and Illahee Road.
The most active area of the fire is south of the river and HWY 138. Firefighters have established locations that are suitable for containment lines while providing for firefighter safety. Crews working on all sections of the fire face steep terrain and poison oak related difficulties.
Hit-And-Run Driver Sought After Cyclist Killed In Marion County
Oregon State Police and emergency personnel responded to a hit-and-run crash on Highway 551 in Marion County early Sunday morning.
Police say a bicyclist was traveling northbound on the shoulder when they were struck from behind by an SUV. The bicyclist was transported to the hospital where they were later pronounced deceased.
The victim’s identity has not been released.
The driver did not stay at the scene, according to police.
Authorities say evidence recovered at the scene suggests the car involved was a white, 2008-2014 Subaru Tribeca. The suspected SUV would have damage to the front passenger side of the vehicle, including the headlight and passenger side mirror.
OSP is requesting anyone with any information regarding the crash or the suspect vehicle to contact them at 1-800-442-0776 and refer to case #SP21-194026.
4.1 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Off Oregon Coast
A 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck Saturday afternoon off the southern Oregon coast.
The earthquake hit about 109 miles from Port Orford at 1:42 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It had a depth of over six miles.
One person has reported to the Geological Survey that they felt the temblor, as of about an hour after the event.
Small earthquakes strike often near Oregon’s coast, a regular reminder of the cataclysmic earthquake geologists say will happen when the pressure building between the Juan de Fuca and North American plates breaks.
Oregon officials say there is a 37% chance that a 7.1 magnitude or higher earthquake will happen at the boundary between the two tectonic plates, called the Cascadia Subduction Zone, in the next 50 years.
Magnitude 2.5 to 3 earthquakes are the smallest generally felt by people, while magnitude 4 quakes can cause moderate damage.
Two Men Die in Aircraft Crash Near Millersburg
Two men from Albany, Oregon, were killed when a homebuilt trike aircraft they were in crashed near Millersburg on Friday night.
The Linn County Sheriff’s Office said the crash happened before 9 p.m. in a field behind Deciduous Avenue. When they arrived on scene they found the pilot, 57-year-old Charles Kizer and his passenger 49-year-old Matthew Irish dead at the scene.
They were flying in a North Wing Trike, a two-seater, motorized glider-type aircraft. The sheriff’s office said there were witnesses of the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration has been called to help investigate.
The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday that it was an unregistered, homebuilt trike aircraft and they were responding to the scene to investigate the crash.
A trike is an ultralight aircraft composed of a robust hang-glider and a powered tricycle.
Back to the BasinLife.com Homepage
BasinLife.com news is partnered with KFLS 1450AM & 102.5FM from Wynne Broadcasting and reporters of the Herald & News. Thanks for reading.