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Kinkade said that the extra responsibility of raising and lowering the flag is an honor for the fire department, not a burden.
“We're proud to raise it,” Kinkade said.
Members of the Coon family, longtime residents of Forest Grove who donated the flag, have a smaller flag on order to ameliorate both concerns.
But Mayor Richard Kidd isn’t sure when the new flag will arrive. As for the firefighters’ attempts to rescue the flag, Kidd said it was a good opportunity.
“It’s a good exercise for them,” Kidd said.
Kinkade agreed. He said he should have lowered the flag sooner when he heard radio traffic from eastern Washington County indicating that the storm surge was a serious event.
“That was completely my fault,” Kinkade said. “I had planned out what we were going to do when the storm hit, but I forgot about the flag. That's why it took so many firefighters.”
Just minutes before the storm hit, firefighters were still working on a test burn near Jennings McCall.
Kinkade said the “live fire” burn was part of a multiple-year-long effort to improve the safety of practice burns throughout Oregon.
“As recently as the last two months there have been injuries and burns down in southern Oregon in live fire burns in acquired structures,” Kinkade said.
While any injury on the job can be devastating, Kinkade said, there’s no excuse for a training incident.
Firefighters from Illinois and Idaho were on hand to help in the training excersize.
That’s partly why firefighters were out in full force and also what contributed to the workload last week.
Forest Grove Fire & Rescue got eight calls for service during the storm, they usually get about that many a day.
“How often do we have an event like we had that day?” Kinkade asked. “Along with a live fire training and everything else that was going on simultaneously.”
Editor's note: an earlier version of this story misstated the number of calls Forest Grove firefighters respond to. They field about eight calls a day.
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I hope the thing comes lose and causes traffic fatalities. Maybe then Forest Grove can rid itself of the biggest jingoistic thing I have EVER seen. It is ridiculous and now dangerous. Am I the only reasonable person to see this ?
(email verified)
Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 02:16 PM
I find it disheartening that the Coon family was essentially forced to buy a smaller flag due to the citizens of Forest Grove complaining about it's "unnecessary size". I have had many family members comment about the flag as they visit my home in Forest Grove saying how incredible it is, and how great the family is for donating it. I agree completely; the flag looks beautiful in the wind, and I find it quite sad that my fellow residents of Forest Grove are complaining about it.
(email verified)
Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 02:48 PM
Editorial response:
Editor's note: Just to let everyone know, our spam/profanity filter is a little wonky and is erroneously flagging (no pun intended) some of the comments on this thread. Shoot me an e-mail if you think your comment has been caught in a filter. Christian Gaston, cgaston@fgnewstimes.com
Do people have nothing else to do other then complain about something that is so beautiful and meaningful to our country. We have millions of soilders that are giving there lives for this flag. Our national Gaurd stationed here in Forest Grove are being depolyed. I beleive with the war being so close to home that we should show our pride. We should be proud of it and what it stands for. I think that the flag shows our pride with its huge size.
This flag and pole were donated. The people should not always have a say. Should the people have a say if a park bench is put in as a donation from a family. But noone ever says anything about that. I beleive that people need other things to do then complain. Be supportive of your community. The Coon family was generess enough to donate this, we should be thatnking them, not making them spend more money on a smaller flag.
I believe that if the flag is well maintained and it is secure let it be.
(email verified)
Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 02:38 AM
Editorial response:
Sorry, this comment got caught by the spam filter. --Christian Gaston
what many people dont know and didnt read is that it was mostly volunteers taking it down. i love the flag. i love my country. people think its a safety hazard because so many calls where made in that short amount of time but there are a number of highly trained volunteers and paid staff to deal with it. people who dont like the flag use this as an excuse
(email verified)
Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 12:18 PM
If you would read the whole thing you would have read that Kinkade said it was his fault. The flag is new and will take some getting used to for firefighters. They are proud to have the care of the flag. They will remember it when there is a wind or storm warning in the future.
I am still not sure how so many people can be against the flag.
(email verified)
Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 11:12 AM
I get so upset when I read the comments from those of you who continue to ridicule our flag.
It is a wonderful sight to see, to me and my kids it is a great reminder of their daddy's commitment to the United States of America. He along with 2700 Soldiers from Oregon (many from Forest Grove and Cornelius) are preparing to go to Iraq. You can thank him and the thousands of veterans before him you have the right to complain about the flag.
Don't worry our constitution will continue to give you the right to complain about our Country and Flag and our soldiers will be there to protect your right to be unpatriotic.
To some it is an honor.
(email verified)
Sat, Jun 13, 2009 at 10:03 PM
All I can say in the City of Forest Grove better be sure to adhere to the rules and regulations regarding flag size to pole height. A few may want a smaller flag but there are rules. The whole idea about it being a sfety issue is a "crock."
(email verified)
Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Everyone who was listening to the news or radio that evening knows that all the meteorologists were saying they had never seen a thunderstorm like that in our area, it was due to the strange way the jet stream was bent that day and not something that is likely to happen on even a rare basis. Sure, they learned something from it, and will be better prepared in the future. Leave the flag alone, it's pretty.
(email verified)
Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 05:16 PM
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Re: Red, white and blew
I was never too keen on this whole flag thing to begin with. Not because I'm unamerican,not even because of its ridiculous size,but mainly because the citizens had no say about it. Now I read that it took 13 firefighters to take it down during the wind storm and read the firefighters own words about trying to hurry because of the large influx of 911 calls they needed to respond to I'm enraged. Thank god nobody died while waiting for a response. Respond to the 911 calls then worry about that stupid flag!!! And if you notice they let the flag touch the ground! Do we still burn flags that touch the ground? Or did they think nobody noticed. Who knows
"james trumper"
(email verified)
Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 01:41 PM