NEWS BRIEFS: Telephone service lost in Gardiner . . . and other items
Published 12:01 am Thursday, July 16, 2015
GARDINER — More than 200 CenturyLink customers in the Gardiner area lost phone service Wednesday because of a fiber cut along state Highway 20 near Discovery Bay, a company spokesman said.
The outage affected 9-1-1 emergency dispatch services. It was reported by CenturyLink at 2:12 p.m.
Residents were being advised to use their cellphones to call 9-1-1 if necessary or Clallam County Fire District No. 3 at 360-683-4242.
CenturyLink spokesman Brian Dalessi said Wednesday that a repair crew was on site. He said he did not know when service would be restored.
The cause of the fiber cut was not immediately known.
The outage affected 228 customers in the Gardiner area, Dalessi said
Reading tonight
PORT TOWNSEND — Luis Alberto Urrea, the Mexican-born, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of Into the Beautiful North and other books, and Skip Horack, an acclaimed writer from Louisiana whose novels include The Eden Hunter, will share a free reading at Fort Worden State Park’s Wheeler Theater tonight.
The 7 p.m. event is part of the Centrum Port Townsend Writers’ Conference, which presents other readings through Saturday.
All are at the Wheeler, just inside Fort Worden at 200 Battery Way.
For details, see www.centrum.org and select the “Writing” link.
No spread of fire
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — The Paradise Fire was relatively quiet as of Wednesday morning, with no new spread of the blaze burning in the Queets River valley, according to a spokeswoman for the fire management team.
The fire about 13 miles inside Olympic National Park boundaries had grown by only 8 acres, to 1,598 acres.
However, some pockets of burning fuel were seen inside the perimeter of the slow-moving wildfire, the spokeswoman said, and there is the possibility of increasing activity with warmer, drier weather forecast.
Two fire crews known for expertise in wildfires are assigned to fire suppression and management on the lines. They are the Mount Hebron and Tushar Mountain Wildland Fire Modules.
Hot spots in the flat river valley have cooled, and the fire is primarily burning dry moss and lichen in tree canopies on steep mountainsides.
The primary mission of firefighters is to continue to contain the fire to the area north of the Queets River and east of Bob Creek.
As of Wednesday morning, smoke from the fire was minimal and could only be seen in the vicinity of the fire.
Smoke may increase and be seen from other areas, including the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center.
Energy lunch today
PORT TOWNSEND — A Jefferson County Energy Lunch Program will be held in the Port Townsend Yacht Club’s clubhouse, 2503 Washington St., at 12:30 p.m. today.
“Developing the Energy Sector of the Jefferson County Economy” will be presented by Brian Young, the governor’s clean energy sector lead.
During the free lecture, Young will review current clean energy activity around the state, describe his role and provide details on the fund that supports development, demonstration and deployment of clean energy technologies.
All are welcome to bring a brown bag lunch and arrive at noon.
For more information, phone Ellen Falconer at 360-821-9368.
