In the News: News for La Pine and Surrounding Communities: "In the News" Summary for Wed., January 14th:

Thursday, January 15, 2015

"In the News" Summary for Wed., January 14th:

"Blake Fire Update"

The internet seems to unleash the haters in comment sections on Facebook, doesn't it? I was reading some of the comments on Z21 Facebook page regarding the Blake fire, and have decided to copy and paste the two below. They are from Tina Blake herself, and from her son-in-law, Troy Mccowen.

Remember, there was no insurance on this home. Even if there was, there is no way to get some things replaced. I hope that folks will calm down and just be nice. People in every news story are real people, and I don't understand why commenters feel the need to be so mean.

That said, here is a shout out to all the givers out there with huge hearts! La Pine rocks in times like these. Thank you to the fire fighers also. ~ Kathy M.

Tina's Comment:

"This is my first time looking at Facebook since the fire; a friend warned me not to look because of some of the comments.

To those people who think there is something strange or amiss let me assure you, my thoughts when I saw the flames were "O God not again".

Let me tell you going through a fire once, having your children so terrified that all of us are huddled up on a twin bed because can't sleep and are afraid be alone. Now imagine the sadness of my children when learning their beloved pet has died, and the way that poor animal must have felt in its last moments so scared and alone. Now imagine my guilt and heart break cause I couldn't save them. Imagine my son clinging to our surviving dog refusing to go anywhere without her for fear something might happen to her too.

Imagine having everything you own photos, family heirlooms, the urn holding your twin daughters ashes and the ONLY photo of them destroyed. Imagine being a strong independent person and the feelings of shame and guilt that I need to ask for help when there are so many other people who need help. Then imagine scrimping and saving every penny you get and I do mean penny until you have just enough money to maybe swing putting in a home for your kids. Nothing fancy or new and it's a definite fixer upper, but it would be ours. Imagine just barely having enough money to put this house in, the permits the electrical, the skirting and being so close to done but then running out of funds.

So the saving starts again. My children each got a small gift Christmas, my car went with bald tires, I didn't put money back into my business (products on the shelf, perms or colors in stock) because we were saving to finish the house. I had just enough for the front porch when the unthinkable happen, AGAIN only this time we were in the house, asleep.

My youngest son is a hero, he woke us cause the fire alarms didn't go off. My oldest son is a hero for helping me try to get the fire out until they made us get out, my youngest daughter is a hero for searching for the poor little chihuahuas. The La Pine fire department are all heroes for working so hard to put that fire out and my son-in-law for helping them during the fire, and working so hard today to see what could be salvaged.

To my kids 4H group, I couldn't ask to be a part of a group of better people. Thank you to my church family for helping in our time of need. Thank you to all of you, our community, for the prayers and donations to rebuild our lives. It will be difficult but we will do it.

For those of you who even think something is strange about the fire or want to suggest that this was in anyway something other than a freak accident, I'm sorry for you because I would never choose to have my family go through this pain and suffering again because once again we are all huddled up together kids to scared to sleep holding on to the only thing we have left, each other."

Troy's Comment:

"My name is Troy Mccowen, I am the husband of the daughter of Tina, and I was the one in the blue Dodge in the grey sweatshirt.

The house caught on fire by the chimney and could not be put out. Me personally have dug trenches to install water/power and getting everything set up and moved in, cut every stick of wood for them to have heat while working and having a baby. If u have anything to say u can say it personally to me cause it's hard to screw the insurance if u don't have any. Also thanking every firefighter that risked there lives for us and everyone hat has helped and will help. Red cross jumped in and has helped and so forth from the church and community."

How You Can Help:

You can help this family by dropping off your donations of food, clothing and furniture at the Holy Redeemer Catholic church on Burgess Road or dropping off money at Sandy's Hair Design next to the DMV. Red Cross is also helping out the family.

Andrew, the oldest son, was just elected president of Unified Tenders 4H Club and they are collecting funds to help feed the farm animals.

"Cougar Alert"

There was a cougar sighting last night on Alpine Drive off of Day Road. The large cat was in the yard of a family and was thought to be around 150 lbs or so. The Department of Fish and Wildlife will be contacted this morning.

"Weather Outlook"

Weather Outlook: There is going to be a lot of rain along the coast and in the valley beginning tomorrow, as in 4-5". We are going to get some here too, but the estimate is only around .13" per day for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thank you to the US National Weather Service Portland Oregon and to Ryanweather.com for the graphics.

"One more dry day, but clouds will be increasing later this afternoon. Then rain will arrive early Thursday, and may be heavy at times Thursday night into early Friday. Coast Range will likely see 3 to 5 inches of rain from Thursday through Saturday, with 1 to 2 inches across the interior valleys. There will be some fortunate breaks between fronts (Friday afternoon into early Saturday), which will help keep the flooding potential rather low. More rain will arrive this weekend."

There was a lot more stuff than this that happened yesterday, but not when I was listening in. What is alarming to me is the number of people trying to commit suicide daily around here.

10:55 p.m. - Bend - Car accident, a woman ran into a power pole and the power lines are laying across her vehicle. Butler Market and Powell Butte Highway.
10:24 p.m. - Redmond - Something big and top secret is going down. I haven't been listening to the scanner, but they are keeping it quiet anyway. Hope that everybody stays safe.

2:20 p.m. - Bend - Big fight at the Mt. View Mobile Home Park ... 3 males and a female. One guy got beat up but is okay, even though he is shaken up.
1:20 p.m. - Bend - Officer was having a hard time arresting a woman. You could hear her crying and screaming in the background.
12:30 p.m. - La Pine - 65 year old male with breathing problems. Help is on the way.
6:30 a.m. - La Pine - A neighbor is concerned because his neighbor's vehicle has been sitting on the road, running, for an hour. Nobody is inside the car. When he knocked on his neighbor's door, nobody answered, so he called for assistance.