We begin tonight with the latest on
the investigation into a massive
apartment fire in Southwest Portland.
Thank you for joining us. I'm Blair Best.
Many people are still without a
home after a fire destroyed the May
Apartments on SW 14th and Taylor St.
Tuesday morning.
Let's bring in Daisy Caballero and Daisy
Fire crews are now using new technology
to try and figure out the cause.
Yeah, Blair, it's very, very fascinating.
And we're told that this technology
is something more agencies are
working to learn and adopt.
Right now,
we're taking our students from an
entry level and teaching them to
be professional pilots. Scapoos
Fire Chief Jeff Pritcher is
leading a twoweek aviation course
at Powell Butte Nature Park,
teaching state government and Land
Management agencies alongside law
enforcement and fire officials how
to fly drones and obtain their FAA
commercial drones license and more.
Teaches them aeronautical Decision making,
Crew Resource management and Safety
Management systems, which are the
pillars of successful aviation program.
Scapoos Fire has been
flying drones since 2015.
Since then it created its aviation program,
a first of its kind in Columbia County,
and after the two week program,
some students will go through additional
training to obtain a waiver that will
allow them to fly up to 1200 feet,
compared to the 400 FAA limit
across the entire state of Oregon.
Our goal is to build a trust
climate with the crude aviation
community as well as the public.
So they don't think we're just
out here playing with toys.
Just this past week,
Pritcher assisted Portland Fire
with a drone to map out a 2D and
3D picture of the scene that will
help investigators pinpoint where
the May Apartments fire started.
This is the 3D imagery they'll be
providing on the May Apartments building.
And then we're going to do some very
specific photos to help enhance.
One of the areas of interest that
the fire investigators have, Scapus
Fire used the same drone tech at the Portland
Korean Church Fire back in February,
but it doesn't stop at commercial buildings.
This new technology will soon help
wildfire crews map out the perimeter of
the fire and help direct water resources.
They also expect to help
investigators with major car crashes.
The Portland Fire and Rescue says it will
continue the investigation at the May
apartments through at least Wednesday,
maybe even through the end of next week.
The agency is planning to send an
investigator inside the building to
complete the scene examination on Tuesday.
Blair. All right, Daisy. Thank you.
Well, Speaking of fire safety,
we're looking ahead at the
incoming wildfire season.
Firefighters say that despite it
being lush and green in Portland,
they're on high alert as our climate
changes now across the region,
departments like Tualatin Valley Fire
and Rescue are doing what they can
now to fight wildfires This year.
They also want to help everyone
protect their homes and communities.
At the World Forestry Centers,
Discovery Museum,
Portland Fire and the State Fire
Marshal's Office held a special
event to educate people.
With
the drought conditions we've
been seeing and the change in
the fire behavior in Oregon,
the Portland area is very much, you know,
at risk for possible wildfire to start.
And if it did, you know when.
If it does happen,
it can be very catastrophic,
The fire officials say.
With our changing climate,
it's important to know how
best to protect our homes
and prepare for wildfires.
Well, a 911 dispatcher from
Portland just won a big award.
Stephen Ziprich was named the
911 Dispatcher of the Year in a
competition with 50 other nominees
from across North America.
Tim Gordon has his story
911. At Portland's Bureau
of Emergency Communications,
thousands of calls come in,
many of them involving life
or death situations. Okay.
What's the address? For 10 years,
Steven Ziprich has been taking
calls and dispatching help with Boik
systems and protocols have changed,
but the senior dispatcher
has always kept this in mind.
You never know what you're going to get.
But knowing, remembering that
the person on the other end
phone matters and and that they.
They deserve my compassion
and my empathy. And
it's that kind of caring put into
action on the job that got Ziprich
nominated for 911 dispatcher of the Year,
1 of 51 nominees out of 10s of thousands
of dispatchers across North America.
That got him a trip to a conference in
Denver last month for the International
Academies of Emergency Dispatch.
That's where he heard a call he
took that exemplified his work.
I heard my voice come through the speakers,
and that's when I that's when I
knew that I was that I had won.
And it was, it was, it was very emotional.
It's a big deal for a humble
guy like Steven Ziprich.
I'm honored. I honestly,
I'm I'm honored that I well,
I was honored that I got nominated. But
much more important than the
trophy is what Ziprich was able
to do that helped him earn it.
Helping save the life of a suicidal
woman who was intentionally overdosing,
but then she called for help.
Is your breathing normal for you? Zip Rich,
along with a suicide crisis counselor,
was able to help the woman. Hang on.
The call went on for about 20 minutes
before police and paramedics took over.
With the lifesaving already well
underway on the phone you said
that you you want, you want me to.
To not let you die today and I
I don't want that to happen.
So I would really like for you to
stay where you are so that help
can get to you and can find you.
For work like that the honor is great.
The dates
on here actually April
18th of this year
still for Zip Rich.
The reward comes not from a trophy
but if I went my entire career in 911
communications and never got this,
I would still be proud of the work that I do.
That I got to help people every day.
Tim Gordon, KGW News
Wow, what an inspiring story.
Well, turning now to the weather.
A cool and cloudy end to the
weekend and as temperatures drop
from what we have been seeing.
We'll check in with Joe Ranieri
and Joe what can we expect
heading into the workweek?
Very comfortable conditions.
This might sound sad but today
kind of made me missing fall.
It didn't quite feel like fall but
the cool and cloudy conditions,
I think we're kind of a
welcome relief for some.
Of course today now ends our streak of
nine days with temperatures 80 or above.
And in that streak of course or a few
days with temperatures 90 or above.
Now we set a record,
talked about this yesterday so far
this May with temperatures five
days with temperatures now your.
Above, no 90s in the forecast
going into the work week,
but we are looking at some sunny
skies along the Oregon coast over
in Lincoln City and that cloud
cover never really left us here in
the metro area pretty thick and
we haven't really seen any rain.
But again the clouds were sitting
over us a good part of the day
and doesn't look like we'd be
seeing much of that clearing.
What we are going to be seeing is
more active weather along the central
and eastern side of the state,
especially throughout the
southeastern pockets of Oregon,
along the Idaho, even the Nevada
border with some severe weather.
Heavy downpours and some hail
and some witty conditions.
But here on the West side of the state,
Blair, it's going to be pretty lovely
as we head into the work week again,
the last for last full week of May or
where I should say work full work week,
if that made sense.
I know I kind of bumbled that,
but whatever.
We are going to be seeing
some pleasant conditions.
I do have a bit of a warm up heading
into the middle part of this week.
I'll talk more about that in
about 10 minutes from now.
All right, Joe, thanks so much.
We'll take a look at this incredible
rescue by the US Coast Guard Friday.
The aircrew stationed in Astoria
helped a man believed to be having
a stroke while on a cruise ship.
Now the ship was about 100
miles off the shore of Astoria.
The Coast Guard was able to take the man
to a Life Flight aircrew in Warrington.
He was then taken to OHSU in Portland.
Well, a local organization is celebrating
the 20th anniversary of its biggest
mental health awareness event in Oregon.
Nami Walks Northwest held its event earlier
today at Peninsula Park in North Portland.
The event brings together people with
lived experience of mental illness,
their loved ones and their advocates.
Now, along with a walk,
there were also baby goats,
therapy dogs and live music.
NAMI Oregon is part of the nation's
largest grassroots mental Health
Organization and today was also the 12th
Annual Distinguished Gentleman's Ride.
It was held on E Burnside at
9:00 this morning.
This event helps raise awareness
for men's mental health,
suicide prevention, and prostate cancer.
In total,
94 countries around the world participated,
but all the money raised in the US goes
to a men's mental Health Organization.
Now a talented local student could soon
have her art featured on Google's home
page for hundreds of 1,000,000 to see.
Prakruthi Rahao is a student at Tumwater
Middle School in Northwest Portland.
She was selected as the Doodle
for Google winner in Oregon for
the 6th and 7th grade category.
This year's theme was What
are you grateful for?
Her response is time she
spends with her younger sister.
The drawing shows them playing a board
game and she says she wasn't expecting
to make it this far in the competition.
I actually did
not think I would win since nothing has
really happened to me like this before.
So yes, it struck me as quite
surprising and I was excited.
Wow. Well, if you want to
support her submission,
you can vote at Doodle for google.com.
Voting closes this Thursday.
5 finalists will then be chosen
to compete for the big prize of
becoming the next Google homepage art.