Document text
- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us August 23, 2005 the Valley TODAY Air drops quell Ruch-area fire RUCH — A 25-acre grass fire briefly threatened several homes off Upper Applegate Road Monday before water-dropping helicopters helped firefighters rein it in. Crews quickly mounted a defense against the 3:39 p.m. blaze as winds fanned flames toward a group of about six to eight homes, said Brian Ballou, fire prevention specialist for the Oregon Department of Forestry. Two helicopters dropped loads of water dipped from a nearby pond, and an air tanker even dropped a load of retardant early on, Ballou said. Initially reported at 4 acres, the fire quickly tripled in size, Ballou added. “It accelerated pretty quickly,” Ballou said. “If the wind kept blowing hard enough ... then we would have had a pretty serious situation.” Upper Applegate resident Bob Sturgis turned a garden hose onto dry grass at the edge of his property. He said he and his wife weren’t even aware of the fire until they saw helicopters in the sky toting buckets of water. Next door at Valley View Winery, Michael Wisnovsky watched the helicopters pull water from his family’s pond and monitored the fire in case it came too close to a planting of Viognier grapes. “We got lucky, too, because normally the winds are more this way,” said co-worker John Guerrero, motioning toward the winery. “I was amazed how fast the choppers were here.” About an hour after the fire started, firefighters had halted the flames about 200 yards from the winery. The flames had devoured several nearby oak trees. About 75 firefighters with 16 engines and a bulldozer from ODF, U.S. Forest Service and Jackson County Fire District No. 9 responded. Crews would remain on the fire throughout Monday evening, Ballou said. Ignited in a field of dry grass between Upper Applegate and Hamilton roads, the blaze remained under investigation Monday. Northwest blood supply critically low BEND — Blood supplies across the Pacific Northwest are at critically low levels, officials with the Red Cross said, after a seven-month slump in blood donations that’s showing no sign of lifting. “Since February, we have seen what we call donor apathy,” said Jennifer Shaw, donor scheduling supervisor for the Red Cross’s Central Oregon District. Donations are often lower in the spring and summer, Shaw said, as more people hit the road for vacations. Correspondingly, more road traffic generally translates to more accidents, and a greater need for blood, she said. Throughout the Pacific Northwest region, the goal is to collect at least 5,000 units of blood a week. In order to have an adequate supply of blood to serve 83 member hospitals in the Pacific Northwest region, including facilities in Oregon, Washington and southeast Alaska, the Red Cross needs at least a three-day supply of each blood type. As of last week, six of the eight blood types were stocked well below that level, Shaw said. “I’ve never seen our inventory this terrible,” said Shaw, who has worked for the Red Cross for four years. — Staff and wire reports DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams