Newberg Graphic Online

Local crews join fight against Microwave Fire

Public safety — Crews from Newberg, Dundee called to Mosier to fight the blaze

• By: Amanda Newman  
• Published: 9/4/2009 3:25:05 PM

Courtesy of Gert Zoutendijk
A crew of firefighters from Dundee looks on as a Columbia Helicopters pilot fills a water tank for a water drop operation on the Microwave Fire.

Newberg and Dundee fire departments sent vehicles and firefighters last weekend to help fight the Microwave Fire, west of Mosier in the Columbia River Gorge.

The Yamhill County Task Force sent four brush rigs, one water tender, one command vehicle and 14 firefighters to battle the flames.

“We got in after the heat of the fire,” said Lt. Lawrence Dickenson. Along with Battalion Chief Gert Zoutendijk and firefighter Martin Salinas, he staffed NFD’s brush rig contribution to the effort.

Fire was still burning on the ground and tree trunks were aflame, but the worst was over when the local crews arrived. The firefighters did “mop up,” finishing off the flames with shovels instead of hoses.
/> “It’s not very glamorous,” Dickenson said. “It’s the hard work.”

The fire started at the base of a Mosier microwave tower at 7 a.m. Friday and soon spiraled out of control.
Dry fuel conditions and an unstable air pattern caused extreme and rapid fire movement, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center. Wasco County Fire Defense Board Chief Bob Palmer requested Gov. Ted Kulongoski invoke the Oregon Conflagration Act, allowing the state fire marshal to send backup.

Kulongoski declared the fire a conflagration Friday afternoon and the state fire marshal mobilized structural firefighters and equipment from departments throughout the state to assist the local resources.

At the time, the fire had burned more than 650 acres of grass and brush and was threatening more than 50 structures in the city, a press release from the fire marshal’s office said. With the fire approaching the outskirts of the city, the Oregon State Police sent resources to assist in a voluntary evacuation of the estimated 450 Mosier residents.

The fire marshal’s Green Incident Management Team, structural task forces from Multnomah and Clackamas counties, and a strike team from Clatsop County responded immediately. Others throughout the state quickly followed suit — a total of 10 crews, one helicopter, 11 engines, one dozer, two water tenders and 250 personnel responded over the course of the fire.

By the time the Yamhill County crews arrived, “there was people from all over,” Dickenson said.

Firefighters and equipment can only be dispatched from counties throughout the state when the conflagration act has been evoked, which only occurs when there are structures and lives threatened. Dickenson said this only happens about once a year. The Mosier fire was the first conflagration incident this year.

The Microwave fire was nearly fully contained by Wednesday after burning about 1,250 acres. Mosier residents began returning to their homes Monday. The fire’s estimated cost was $2.75 million as of Wednesday and the cause remains under investigation.

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