VALE – Before aircraft orbited the Cow Valley Fire to drop retardant and a legion of paid firefighters converged on Malheur County, a small band of locals fought the blaze.
Little known outside of firefighting and ranching circles, the Vale and Ironside Rangeland Fire Protection Associations skirmished with the fire just hours after it started in a desperate attempt to stop its spread.
RFPAs receive support from the Oregon Department of Forestry that includes grants and surplus firefighting equipment such as vehicles. The associations dot the West and consist of volunteers who are usually ranchers, intent on preserving the terrain where their cattle graze in the summer and fall. The volunteers do not get paid for their firefighting efforts.
Consisting of 30 to 50 people, the Ironside and Vale rangeland fire associations deployed fire trucks, dozers, tractors and manpower in 100-degree weather on July 11 to tackle the Cow Valley Fire.
Mark McBride, a member of the Vale association, arrived on the fire scene in a brush engine with a water tank and pump. He said when he arrived there were already “12 to 14 pieces of equipment, from tractors to Cats to (water) tenders” from the associations at work on the fire.
“We are the first response. On the Cow Valley Fire, there were a lot of times where literally just our RFPA members were on a section of fire,” said Kelsey Haueter, chairman of the Vale and Ironside RFPAs.
While the rangeland fire protection crews did not know it that morning of July 11, the fire they fought would turn into one of the biggest blazes in Malheur County history. In the space of four days the fire charred a path more than 27 miles long, scorching summer and fall rangeland used by the local cattle industry.
The fire also destroyed corrals and wiped out utility poles while flames threatened the town of Brogan and eventually Vale. The blaze also closed down U.S. Highway 26. In the end, the fire burned more than 133,000 acres.
Yet in those first hours the rangeland fire association crews proved to be key as they made initial attacks on the blaze.
Early on it was evident the Cow Valley Fire was something new and different in terms of ferocity.
“It was in rough country where it was hard to handle. Then the wind picked it up and it was even more so,” said McBride.
McBride, who said he’s fought fire for 40 years, remembers at one point the fire was held on the north side of the highway just west of Brogan.
He said the wind created fire tornadoes that kicked up the flame and then pushed sparks across the two-lane road.
“It got very erratic when it crossed the road. I’ve never seen fire behave quite like that. It was really aggressive fire behavior,” said McBride.
McBride remembers he saw the fire cross the highway and he knew “we were not going to catch it until it gets to Bully Creek, which is where we caught it.”
“We got into a deal where it was just really hard to handle and really hot for a very long time. It was tough,” he said.
For the next two weeks members of both the Vale and Ironside rangeland fire associations fought on the Cow Valley Fire and then the Durkee Fire that erupted July 17 and blackened more than 290,000 acres and, at one point, burned down into Malheur County near Willowcreek and northeast of Brogan.
“We never really came off the line. It was 15 days straight, a good solid two weeks,” said McBride.
Rangeland Fire Protection Associations such as the Vale and Ironside groups, proved to be crucial across the region, said Shawna Hartman, public information officer for the Badlands Complex Fire in Baker County.
“RFPAs really had a significant impact on our suppression efforts on the Badlands Complex. We have a lack of resources with all of the wildland fires that are burning across the northwestern United States,” she said.
She said rangeland fire protection agencies provide “invaluable” resources.
“They know the area,” she said.
Four rangeland fire associations are active in Malheur County including groups from Juntura, Vale, Ironside and Jordan Valley.
The Ironside range protection group formed in 1964, while the Vale organization was established in 2008. The Jordan Valley range association formed in 2008 while the Juntura association formed in 2007.
Shane DeForest, manager of the Vale District of the BLM, said partnership between his agency and the local volunteers are “key to protecting lives, property, resources and landscapes within the Vale District.”
“The RFPAs are often the first responders to arrive on a fire due to their proximity,” he said.
Their work was important on the Cow Valley and Durkee Fires, he said.
“The quick response of the RFPAs, together with the efforts of our federal firefighters and those of our partner fire suppression organizations, undoubtedly kept the Cow Valley and Durkee fires from becoming much larger,” he said.
McBride said the Vale and Ironside Rangeland Fire Protection Associations are groups that “can do more with less.”
“There wasn’t anyone who showed up at this deal that didn’t show up to work and help. Everybody came here because we had a need,” he said.
Haueter said the local fires depleted the cash reserves of the two rangeland associations.
“Trucks and stuff, we have to use that money for fuel. That’s pretty much gone now,” she said.
The Vale Community Coalition, a local nonprofit, is collecting donations for the Vale association to help offset its costs. Donations to the fire protection agency can be made in person to Jen Tolman, the coalition’s treasurer, at Malheur Drug in Vale at 198 A St. W.
Tolman said last week the donation effort so far collected several thousand dollars. That money, she said, was distributed to the Vale, Ironside and Juntura associations.
Tolman said the donation program is still going. She said the response from the community has been good.
News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [email protected]
EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM – Available for $7.50 a month. Subscribe to the digital service of the Enterprise and get the very best in local journalism. We report with care, attention to accuracy, and an unwavering devotion to fairness. Get the kind of news you’ve been looking for – day in and day out from the Enterprise.