Red Bluff Daily News

August 29, 2015

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The Associated Press PORTLAND, ORE. North- west fire officials told U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack that incoming cooler weather could help calm the massive blazes that threaten thousands of homes, but wind storms may cause extreme fire be- havior in the interim. Vilsack, in Portland Fri- day for a wildfire briefing, said 14,000 homes in Ore- gon and Washington are currently at risk and the Forest Service is spending $10 million a day for fire suppression in the region. As the warm weather is being replaced this week by cooler conditions from the Pacific Ocean, the cold front could bring rain to western Oregon this weekend, but the transition to the cold front will also bring strong winds across eastern Wash- ington and northeastern Oregon. Any break in the weather would be welcomed by weary fire crews. This year to date, a total of 3,382 fires have burned in Oregon and Washington — with 93 of those catego- rized as large fires, officials told Vilsack at the briefing. Currently, more than 10,900 firefighters in the region are battling 11 large blazes. Vilsack said that more and more federal resources are being used to fight Western wildfires. In 1995, he said, 16 per- cent of the Forest Service's budget went toward fire suppression. Today, 52 per- cent of the agency's budget is spent on fighting fires. In the next decade, if the trend continues, the agency esti- mates nearly 70 percent of its budget will go toward wildfire costs. "No one wants our For- est Service to become one large fire department," Vil- sack said. That money isn't spent on forest thinning and other fire prevention proj- ects. Agencies like the U.S. Bureau of Land Manage- ment and Forest Service currently have to borrow funds to pay for such proj- ects. The problem, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Vilsack said, is that 1 to 2 percent of the wild- fires — the largest ones, which put most property at risk — are eating up a third of the firefighting budget. Since most of those fires were started by lightning, they are natural disasters like hurricanes or earth- quakes and should qual- ify for emergency federal funds, Wyden said. Under a measure being backed by Wyden, agencies could tap federal disaster funds only if nationwide firefighting costs reached 70 percent of the 10-year average. Here's a look at the fires across the West: Oregon Structural fire crews re- turned to protect homes on a wildfire in eastern Or- egon as National Guard and other fire crews worked to reinforce lines against winds forecast to be gust- ing up to 40 mph. The Canyon Creek Com- plex fire, which has de- stroyed more than three dozen homes, covered 135 square miles Friday. The blaze is located south of John Day mostly on the Malheur National Forest. Washington The largest wildfire in Washington state his- tory grew by more than 22 square miles overnight, and firefighters are worried about high winds predicted for this weekend. The Okanogan Complex of wildfires was listed at 472 square miles Friday, af- ter windy conditions Thurs- day pushed the fire on a couple of runs. It is only 12 percent contained. Officials say the fire has destroyed at least 45 pri- mary residences, 49 cab- ins and 60 outbuildings. Three firefighters died bat- tling the fire last week, and a memorial service for them is planned for Sunday in Wenatchee. Idaho People in west-central Idaho near Riggins have been told to evacuate due to a wildfire that expanded to 40 square miles. Nearly 600 firefighters were work- ing to protect structures along U.S. Highway 95 and the Salmon River. WESTERN BLAZES Northwestfirecrews hope for weather break TEDS.WARREN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS An airplane used to fight wildfires flies past the sun, which appears orange due to heavy smoke in the air while battling a blaze that flared up in the late a ernoon near Omak, Wash., on Thursday. JAE C. HONG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Jabez McMillan, 3, right, looks at the Goodyear's Spirit of America blimp at the Goodyear Airship Operations base, in Carson. By John Rogers and Jae C. Hong The Associated Press LOS ANGELES The fabled Goodyear Blimp is retir- ing. But don't fret, blimp fans. That big, cigar- shaped thing you've seen floating over sports events all your life will still be there. It will also remain instantly recog- nizable with its blue-and- gold Goodyear logo embla- zoned across the side. It just won't be, well, technically, a blimp. But that's OK, too, be- cause from the ground it won't look much different from Goodyear's Spirit of America, which was de- flated and disassembled earlier this month after a farewell flight across Cal- ifornia. "It's a brand new de- sign. It is a much larger airship. It's a semi-rigid dirigible," Goodyear's Pris- cilla Tasker said of the new fleet of non-blimps replac- ing the company's three aging U.S. airships. In air-speak that means the new model has a fixed structure holding its big, gassy balloon in place. That's unlike a blimp, which goes flat when the helium is removed. "But the most impres- sive features are the glass cockpit that is all fly-by- wire, the most state-of- the-art avionics in airships today," Tasker said. The first of the new mod- els, Ohio-based Wingfoot One, took to the sky last year, replacing the 14-year- old Spirit of Goodyear. The last of the old ones, Flor- ida-based Spirit of Inno- vation, will fly to Califor- nia next month to replace Spirit of America while its replacement is being built. After that, Spirit of Inno- vation will be retired. The new ships, with three engines instead of two, will be able to hit freeway speeds of 73 mph and make less racket get- ting from place to place. They'll also be more ma- neuverable. And they'll still be carried aloft by helium. The overhaul comes on the 90th anniversary of Goodyear's entry into the dirigible business. Goodyear retiring bl im ps , ro ll in g ou t ci ga r- sh ap ed c ra SEMI-RIGID DIRIGIBLE | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 2015 12 A

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