Overnight Fire
Florence Police and Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue responded to a reported Tree fire and possible power line down at 5700 Maple Drive on the east side of Woahink lake at about 10 p.m. last night. Florence police report that they were on the scene for approximately an hour and 10 minutes. There is currently no official information on the incident or what damage might have been done to the home or other structures there. Coast radio news will update this story as more information becomes available.
Small Honeyman Brush Fire
Siuslaw valley fire and rescue responded to a brush fire out near Honeyman State Park yesterday morning. Sean Barrett with SVFR says the fire was human caused but the exact reason is currently unknown. The fire was about a 1/10th of an acre in size and was located down an access road to the parks water source. Barrett said the fire could have been a lot worse.
“Luckily we caught it in the morning when the fire behavior was very calm and mellow so it wasn’t burning very much at that time.”
Yesterday afternoon the Fire danger level was increased for the areas east of the cascades and is currently under a red flag warning for severe conditions due to weather. Here on the west side Barrett says the situation is not as severe but due to the number of fires they have been dealing with they are on alert.
“We’re Moderate, but we’re going with high just because we’re having so many problems with brush fires.”
Barrett says fire levels can be low, based on weather and humidity conditions but gets elevated due to the amount of calls coming in. Thunderstorms are being forecast for the cascades and that means a huge red flag for that area.
Gas Prices Steady
The weekly report on gas prices for the state is out and according to AAA Oregon prices are holding fairly steady. The national average for a price of regular gasoline has gone up slightly. Two Cents to $2.28 a gallon, but locally and statewide the prices remain unchanged. Statewide the average is at $2.66 a gallon and locally it remains at $2.35. Marie Dodds with AAA says the reason is that reserve supplies nationally have dipped for the 4th straight week and are down an additional 4.4 million barrels and for the year that puts supplies down about 10 million barrels. While statewide the prices have remained steady, Oregon is one of the only states that prices are the same as a month ago while 18 states have lower prices and the remaining 31 have seen an increase.
Special School Board Meeting
The Siuslaw School District has announced a special meeting for August 10th. The meeting will address the Student drug policy as it pertains to volunteer athletic activity. The meeting seeks to address many of the concerns, left over from a very contentious debate at the end of the school year, regarding fair enforcement of the schools drug and alcohol policy. The topics will attempt to outline the policy in detail and includes verbiage on how to report incidents, how to remove yourself from potential questionable activities, timeframe for reporting such violations and the times that students are subject to penalties when infractions occur. They will also look at the responsibility and impact of Social Media. In addition they will look at updating the student dress code. The Board of Directors Special meeting will be held at the Schools district office on Oak street at 6:30 on August 10th.
