Continue reading »]]> May is opening burning time inside the Hermiston Fire District.  This means that burning is allowed without checking to see if it is a Umatilla County burn day. This gives the residents of the Hermiston Fire District the ability to burn even if it is not a “county burn day”.

Please remember that all regulations are still in effect and can be found here – hermistonfire.com/burning/regulations

Continue reading »]]> Fire crews from Hermiston, Stanfield, and Umatilla worked together to extinguish a semi-trailer fire early this morning around 5 am.  The trailer was backed in a loading dock at an industrial/farming location.  Fire crews saved the building and its contents with minimal damage to the structure.  The trailer was a total loss.  The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

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Opening day at the Hermiston Little League was Saturday morning with beautiful weather.   Thanks to Firefighter Ed Clark of B-shift for setting up the American flag on the top of the ladder truck.

Lieutenant Jimmy Davis of A-shift was on hand coaching his t-ball team sponsored by the Hermiston Professional Firefighters.

Continue reading »]]> On May 5th the local emergency services and hospital will be having a disaster drill. The benefits of this type of training and practice is invaluable to local firefighters, EMS, law enforcement, and hospitals to work together in time of major emergencies.  We are seeking volunteers to be “victims” of the simulated event on May 5th.  Please contact us here if you would like to volunteer and we will put you in touch with the coordinator of the event.  This drill will take a good portion of the day.

Continue reading »]]> Come see us this Friday April 13th at the Umatilla High School. HF&ES will be providing a car seat check up clinic from noon to 4 pm. Come get your child safety seats checked and installed by professionals. The Carnival is scheduled from noon to 8 pm.

Umatilla is making it into a full carnival event, complete with dunk tanks, children’s games and presentations. Multiple food booths will be on site, including barbecue and pulled pork sandwiches, caramel and candied apples, snow cones and cotton candy. A car wash, car seat clinic, live music and a DJ are scheduled, and a donation center will collect school supplies and gently used clothing items.

Groups expected to have booths include: key club, STLT, fishing club, ASB, robotics, band and choir, baseball, football, boys basketball, girls basketball, girls soccer, track, cheerleading and cross country.

For more information, call Umatilla High School at 541-922-6525.

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Congratulations to Hermiston Firefighters Chris Wrathall, Ed Clark, and Corey Gorham who participated in the Seattle Stair Climb.  The event is known as the Scott Firefighter Stairclimb and is a fundraiser for  The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  Firefighters raced to the the top of the Columbia Center tower in Seattle while wearing full protective gear and an air pack.  The Hermiston team raised $4000.00.

At 788 feet of vertical elevation, the Columbia Center (formerly Bank of America Tower) in downtown Seattle stands as the second tallest building west of the Mississippi. It takes 69 flights of stairs and 1,311 steps to reach the highly acclaimed observation deck overlooking the city. The Scott Firefighter Stairclimb supports the mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, raising money through sponsorships, individual and department fundraising, and entry fees. In 2011, the event featured over 1,500 firefighters from 281 different departments and brought in a record $930,000 for blood-cancer research and patient services.

Continue reading »]]> Local agencies have seen an excess of vehicle fires for the past three months.  Many of the cars have been stolen and set on fire purposely.  Law Enforcement personnel have two suspects in custody and local fire and law agencies are investigating.  There have been an estimated 15 stolen cars that have been burned recently.  HF & ES has responded to approx. 12 vehicle related fires with an estimated $89,000 in damages since November 1st, 2011.

Related Article from the Hermiston Herald

Continue reading »]]> Cell phones…almost all of us have them and if you’re reading this on facebook, you probably have a smartphone.  I love my smartphone. I can not only send and receive calls but text and send and receive emails and work on my power points for my next presentation.  I don’t think I could live without my smartphone.  But I have found myself using my smartphone while I am driving.  A lot!  I have noticed myself drifting into the other lane or over the white line while doing this.  And let’s not talk about the law of not using my phone while driving (who listens to laws anyway?…..I should!)  I am in the process of teaching my 15 year old daughter how to drive and do you know what I was doing yesterday as she was watching me drive…texting!  Not only is it unsafe but I am teaching my daughter that it is ok to disregard the law and do things that are unsafe.  I tell her no cell phone behind the wheel and if she does she will not drive, but then I do the exact thing I tell her not to do.  Well maybe this month’s safety topic is more of a moral topic.  Yes, using your smartphone or cell phone behind the wheel is dangerous and against the law without hands free equipment.  But you know what I found out?  My phone’s “airplane mode” also works while I am driving.  Maybe we should turn off our phones or activate this mode inside our cars.

Stay Safe!

Jim Tanner

Continue reading »]]> Now that winter break is over and our children are going back to school, we need to think again about teaching our children about crosswalk safety. Yes, drivers in Oregon are supposed to stop for pedestrians in our crosswalks, but those of us who drive know we don’t always see everyone trying to cross…especially the little one heading to school early in the morning with the sun just coming up. We need to teach our children to look left right and left again before entering the crosswalk. Teach them to make sure the cars are slowing down and coming to a stop before they head into the street. Lastly, remind our children not to take their time in the crosswalks. Children need not run but should walk quickly across the street.
As parents, we need to be talking about safety to our children. We at Hermiston Fire care about the safety of your family and each month we will be posting a safety thought for you to read over and hopefully share with your family. If you have a question about any safety related subject please contact our public safety educator, Jim Tanner, at
jtanner@hermiston.or.us or contact us here.

Have a safe day!