News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
State Fire Marshal Jim Walker received the Partnership Award for the agency’s help in providing task force assistance during the Milli Fire.
2017 was a challenging year for the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District.
A harsh winter burdened the District as heavily as everyone else in Sisters. It cost $6,400 just to keep the fire stations cleared of snow so that emergency response wouldn't be delayed. And the snow and ice damaged Sisters Fire Hall to the tune of $200,000. District personnel put considerable work into planning and preparing for the potential of catastrophic floods, had heavy rain fallen on the massive snow load. Fortunately, that didn't happen, and flooding was minimal.
Winter was just the start of a wild season, the travails and triumphs of which were recounted during the Sisters Fire District's annual awards banquet, held at FivePine Lodge & Conference Center on Friday, March 2.
Like other agencies across the region, the Sisters Fire District put in significant planning and mobilization for an anticipated influx of thousands of people to view a total eclipse - an event that was expected to stretch emergency response to the breaking point. The fact that the strain didn't materialize didn't change the fact that District personnel had to work to get ready.
Instead of an "eclipsolypse," the District got what Deputy Chief Tim Craig called "a massive uptick in structure fires" that required response - including coming to the aid of Cloverdale Fire District in battling a fire in a 22,000-square-foot home east of Sisters - believed to be the largest structure fire of the year in Oregon.
Then Mother Nature handed the District a whole other plate full of problems, in the form of wildfire.
Chief Craig noted that the District participated in multi-agency drills before the wildfire season got underway - critical to coordinated and effective response.
"We learn each others' names long before the smoke hits the woods," he said.
When the smoke did hit the woods, Sisters Fire was required to mobilize for weeks of structure protection duty during the Milli Fire, where some 600 residents were evacuated from Crossroads and the Edgington Roads neighborhoods.
The District's fire season lasted well beyond our own. Having received the benefit of multiple departments - including some from out-of-state sending engines and crews to Sisters during the Milli Fire, Sisters reciprocated by deploying engines and crews to other fires, from the Columbia Gorge to California, where massive, catastrophic wildfires tormented the state.
Sisters fire crews served their neighbors admirably in a fire season that extended into December.
"We sent 15 strike teams down there," said keynote speaker State Fire Marshal Jim Walker. "Your firefighters went to California and they represented you and the state very well."
In his remarks, Walker noted that Sisters has "an incredible volunteer program." Sisters has more than 40 volunteers in harness, and an active Fire Corps that offers classes, installs smoke alarms and conducts community blood pressure clinics.
"The rest of the state is really struggling to attract volunteers," Walker said.
Fire Chief Roger Johnson presented a slate of awards to firefighters, volunteers and EMTs (see story, page 29). He started with the Partnership Award, presented to Walker and the State Fire Marshal's Office in honor of the support they provided during the Milli Fire.
When the District requested assistance in the face of a fast-moving blaze that was forcing evacuations, "it was amazing how fast they had people rolling into Sisters."
Chief Johnson presented Walker with a special plaque made of locally sourced wood, with the upper rim depicting the skyline of the Three Sisters. The centerpiece was a chromed head of a Pulaski (a firefighting mattock/ax) that was used on the Milli Fire.
Both Chief Johnson and Fire Marshal Walker noted how critical interagency relationships and partnerships are to providing effective and efficient public safety.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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