July 2026
VOLUME 34 | ISSUE 7 The monthly newspaper of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Pendleton, Oregon
CUJ
CONFEDERATED UMATILLA JOURNAL
cuj.ctuir.org
Fire crews make their way through the forest while working to contain a wildfire on June 16 along Old Emigrant Hill Road on the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Mission. (Yasser Marte/The CUJ)
Fire crews contain Old Emigrant blaze after five-day battle YASSER MARTE The CUJ
A helicopter releases a bucket of water over the wildfire as crews work to suppress the blaze on June 16 along Old Emigrant Hill Road on the Umatilla Indian Reservation near Mission. (Yasser Marte/The CUJ)
MISSION — After five days of battling a wind-driven wildfire across Old Emigrant Hill Road, fire crews secured containment lines on June 21, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF). The blaze ignited on June 16 at about 1:30 p.m. as a vegetation fire on the Umatilla Indian Reservation and rapidly spread to more than 1,400 acres of fee and trust land, fueled by dry grasses and gushing winds. The flames intensified that afternoon as sustained winds of 25 to 30 mph pushed across an open field, with gusts estimated up to 40 mph, complicating suppression efforts. Thick smoke plumed over the hilltop, drifting over
nearby ridgelines as the fire advanced through grass and brush. Fire trucks moved through the hillside to reach the blaze as local ranchers rode horseback to move cattle away from the advancing fire, corralling herds into safer ground as trucks climbed the hillside to haul livestock out of danger. Aerial crews worked alongside ground teams from the afternoon into the evening. Helicopters scooped buckets of water from McKay Reservoir and dropped them on the flames. Airplanes released pink fire retardant along the fire’s edge, preventing the flames from pushing into timber and more heavily forested areas. See FIRE, Page A3
NCS Class of ’26 turn their tassels Page B1
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