PENDLETON â The fire started when a wire detached from a power pole, igniting the grass near Perkins Avenue and 17th Place in Pendleton on Wednesday, May 5. Then, the snapped wireâs electrical current met the ground behind the Red Lion Hotel, starting a second fire.
Firefighters eventually contained the blaze, but Pendleton Fire Chief Jim Critchley said if conditions were even slightly drier, it may have been a different story.
âWeâre lucky today because we still have some green in our grasses,â he said. âBut if this were to happen later on in the season, that would have caused a bigger problem.â
The Morrow County Board of Commissioners has formally declared a drought in the county and formally asked Gov. Kate Brown for state support.
A letter from commissioners to Brown, dated April 28, describes conditions this year as âsevereâ and projected to continue.
âThere is a potential for Morrow County agricultural and livestock, natural resources, recreational and tourism, and related economies to experience widespread and severe damage resulting in extreme weather conditions in the County,â the letter stated. âThe County is experiencing negative impacts in agriculture.â
It asks that Brown issue an executive order declaring a drought in Morrow County and that state agencies, including the Oregon Water Department, operate within their authority to assist the county in mitigating damage from the drought.
PENDLETON â Despite rain showers over the weekend in much of Northeast Oregon, fire officials say the region is still ripe for wildfires.
âItâs dry,â said Joe Hessel, a forester for the Oregon Department of Forestryâs Northeast Oregon. âI think, statewide, Oregon Department of Forestry protected lands have had four times the average number of fires.â
Not only are the number of fires higher for this time of year but, Hessel said, the number of acres burned is three times higher than normal.
Besides dry conditions, the National Weather Service in Pendleton predicts high winds as being the new normal for the region as the climate continues to warm.
PENDLETON â The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners in a Tuesday, April 20, meeting moved unanimously to declare a drought disaster in the county and are asking that Gov. Kate Brown and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack follow suit.
If the state declares a drought, local farmers could receive relief in the form of state or federal grants, officials say.
âWe have a very large area in Umatilla County that is in the severe drought stage right now, with another equally large area in extreme drought,â Umatilla County Commissioner Dan Dorran said in the meeting, adding that âthe rest of the county is either in abnormally dry or moderate drought.â
National Weather Service
Prineville s temperatures were colder than normal, NWS says
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) Bend residents experienced a fairly typical March, temperature-wise, though it was somewhat drier than usual, the National Weather Service in Pendleton reported Thursday.
The average temperature at the Bend Airport was 39 degrees, which was just 0.2 degrees below normal (a 30-year average). High temperatures averaged 51.4 degrees, which was a half-degree above normal. The highest reading was 68 degrees on the 29th.
Low temperatures averaged 26.7 degrees, which was 0.8 degrees below normal. The lowest was 17 degrees, on the 30th.
There were 26 days with the low temperature below 32 degrees, the NWS said.