HEADLINES & HISTORY SINCE 1879 Goldendale, Washington
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23, 2025
Vol. 146 No. 17
$1.00
Fire insurance cancelations spreading like wildfire JORDAN MAYBERRY FOR THE SENTINEL Ethelene Gardner, Klickitat County resident, has done everything right. After almost nine years of living on forested acreage, she and her family took deliberate steps to mitigate wildfire risk: trimming trees, clearing brush, following the state’s cleanup guidelines, and even having the local power company inspect the property easement. “We went through the Washington State clean-up plan,” Gardner says. “They paid you to go in and clean up all your trees. We went through with a brush hog and went through all of our trees, and then we trimmed up to 40 acres of trees themselves before you even get to the house. And then, behind us, we’ve taken out about 15 acres of trees.” Despite their efforts, Gardner received a letter from American Modern Home Insurance on March 26 stating that their policy would not be renewed. “It’s been declined due to ‘wildfire risk’ currently in place,” the letter read. The non-renewal is effective May
CONTRIBUTED
DIDN’T MATTER: Ethelene Gardner cleared her 40 acres of fire fuel. Her insurance company didn’t care. 7, ending a three-year relationship with the insurance provider. Gardner is not alone. Across
Oregon and Washington, more and more homeowners are seeing their insurance policies dropped
due to what insurers call “unacceptable wildfire risk.” These decisions come even for homeown-
ers who have taken aggressive steps to mitigate that very risk. “Don’t get me wrong,” Gardner says. “There have been fires in Oregon and in Washington, but it’s the fact that we have worked so hard to not have a fire danger here—and still have our insurance cancelled.” The sudden losses in insurance have struck multiple homeowners not just in the foothills of the Simcoe Mountains. Residents in Goldendale proper have also entered conflict with their insurance companies, new and old homeowners alike. The phenomenon is the result of ongoing legislation regarding wildfire risk across Washington and Oregon. According to Jason Horton of Oregon’s Division of Financial Regulation, insurers are within their rights to decline renewals based on wildfire risk. After the catastrophic 2020 Labor Day fires that destroyed over 4,000 homes in Oregon, many carriers revised their underwriting criteria. The resulting losses, measured in the billions, have driven insurers to
See Fire page B4
LOU MARZELES
EASTER AT THE FAIRGROUNDS: The Easter Bunny was in his holiday best Saturday at the Klickitat County Fairgrounds, looking sharp in his vest and greeting fans. Kids spread out far and wide to find eggs on that bright, sunny day.
Antique Piper Cub now based in Klickitat County Born in December of 1939 in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, at the Piper Airplane Company Plant, run by William Piper, this antique Piper Cub J-3 bearing its pre World War II registration of NC25986, was sold to a flying service in Providence, Rhode Island, for $1,012. It had a 50 horsepower Franklyn motor. Its serial number is 34 of 19,700. These famous airplanes, flown from the rear seat, saw war time service as artillery spotters in both the European Theater and all across the Pacific War. More than 900 “L-4s” (the Army Air Corps J-3 model) would also be made in Lock Haven and sent in pieces
Dallesport water issue rises in meeting RODGER NICHOLS FOR THE SENTINEL
CONTRIBUTED: DOUG HERLIHY
NEW HOME: A rare Piper Cub, only the 39th one made, now lives on an air field in Klickitat County. to be reassembled in England to be flown into combat after D-Day 1944. The L-4 famously became known as the “Grasshopper.” When World War II broke out, serial number 34 was commandeered by the federal government, likely for cadet training, though no record of these hours exists. These little planes, weighing less than 800 pounds, along with most all Piper Cubs and others reg-
istered to civilians by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), were pressed into service to train the cadets across the country who went on to fly the World War II fighters and bombers. It was estimated that over 270,000 young men flew their first hours in these J-3 Piper Cubs. The hours of service to train
See Piper page A8
Two of the major concerns expressed in the public comment portion of the Klickitat County Commissioners meeting on April 15 are familiar ones, with some new angles. W.J. Morris of the Dallesport Water District had some new numbers to share with the board regarding an agreement originally signed between the district and the county commissioners in 2011. “The following are payback amounts to buy yourself out of this contract,” he said. “The base is $1,135,000. You owe us $72,000 in 11 illegal connections at the airport for a subtotal of $1,207,000 and an additional $32,000 that was returned to the Columbia Gorge Regional Airport for SDCs that were connected for a grand total of
$1,239,000....Since this has been going on for 5,110 days with 12 to 18 percent compounded interest, you may want to consider getting yourself out of this contract and writing a check to the Dallesport Water District.” Whether or not those obligations are collectible without first having all the conditions of the agreement satisfied is more one for legal scholars. However, there has been some movement on the issue of assigning funds from landfill gas revenue to the water district that could pave the way for an ultimate execution of that agreement. Commissioner Lori Zoller said she had a meeting scheduled for next week with Dan Gunkel of Klickitat PUD. The two of them constitute an unusual 2-person committee that controls disposition of requests for landfill gas
See County page A8