Frustration Over Communications Breakdown With Pioneer Fire
Frustrations continue over the handling of the Pioneer Fire on Lake Chelan. The fire has ballooned to about 30,000 acres and continues to spread both northeast away from the lake and northward toward the town of Stehekin.
Chelan County Commissioner Tiffany Gering told her fellow commissioners Monday morning during a public meeting that there have been numerous problems with communications.
"Somehow, the residents of Stehekin got the message that the fire was coming, and there was nothing they could do to stop it," said Gering. "That was the message that was communicated to me by many people in Stehekin. Not one. Many."
She also says no one on the local level was made aware of firefighting aircraft being sent from Washington to Oregon or that a fleet of Forest Service helicopters was grounded after a fatal accident.
Chelan County commissioners were set to get an update on firefighting efforts Monday in a meeting with 12th District state lawmakers Keith Goehner and Mike Steele. Gering said the meeting on Zoom would possibly include involvement on the Congressional level.
She said residents in the area want to know why firefighting efforts haven't included more support from aircraft.
“Nobody understands why we’re paying pilots lots and lots of money to not dump water on the fire,” Gering said. “Nobody understands that.”
She said Oregon is now at a higher level of priority than Washington. Oregon currently has more wildfires burning than Washington, and three fires in Eastern Oregon are larger than 100,000 acres. The Falls Fire has burned 132,951 acres. The Cow Valley Fire has burned 133,490 acres and the Lone Rock Fire has burned 124,556 Acres. In addition, the Larch Creek Fire east of Mt. Hood has burned 18,286 Acres.
As of Saturday, 80 wildfires are burning throughout the state with at least 406,284 total acres burned, according to the State of Oregon Fires and Hotspots Dashboard.
Another possible contributing factor to fewer aircraft being deployed to the Pioneer Fire stems from a crash in Canada that claimed the life of a helicopter pilot
Operators in Canada and the United States temporarily grounded a large portion of the Bell medium firefighting helicopter fleet following the crash in the Northwest Territories, according to the aircraft news publication Vertical.
The U.S. Forest Service initially grounded 31 Bell helicopters but cleared 19 to return to work in early July.
Meanwhile, additional state resources were granted over the weekend for the Pioneer Fire at the request of Fire Chief Robert Nielsen, Chelan County Fire District 10. The state sent one wildland task force to assist with management of the fire.
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