Corvallis Gazette-Times from Corvallis, Oregon • 6

Friday, October 26, 2007 Corvallis Gazette-Times, Corvallis, Ore. www.gazettetimes.com Wildfire: Four more victims 4 'I day ahead that today your life may look dismal, but tomorrow life's going to be better," said Bush, who earlier declared seven counties a major disaster area, making residents eligible for federal assistance to help them rebuild. His visit came just hours after rescue crews found the bodies of a married couple in the rubble of a burned home in Escondido. Like the previous death, the pair had been urged to evacuate. Neighbors told authorities they last saw the two around midnight Monday.

They were reported missing sometime after that. San Diego County sheriff's deputies on Wednesday had taken a cursory look around the couple's home and found no one inside. When the two did not turn up during the day, a search-and-rescue team was sent to the site and found one body Wednesday night and a second set of remains early Thursday. They were identified as John Christopher Bain, 58, a mortgage broker, and his wife, Victoria Fox, 55, a teacher. A relative who did not want to be identified because she was too distraught to talk to other reporters confirmed the deaths to The Associated Press, and their names matched property records for the address where they were found.

Officials have reported 10 deaths connected to the fires; seven died of causes other than flames. At least 40 firefighters and 35 other people have been injured. In the Los Angeles area, fire crews worked to tamp out many wildfires, including two that burned 21 homes and were now fully contained. But the focus shifted to flames still raging in Orange and San Diego counties, particularly in rural areas near the Mexico border where more evac-, uation orders were issued. The total burn area across California had expanded to more than 487,000 acres about 761 square miles.

Continued from front page just east of San Diego and along the Mexican border, agency spokeswoman Gloria Chavez said. The area is near a major corridor for illegal immigrants who often walk hours or even days to cross into the United States from Mexico. Authorities said they discovered the bodies Thursday afternoon but did not know how long ago the victims died. "They could have been out there a while," said Paul Parker, a spokesman for the San Diego County medical examiner's office. They were tentatively identified as three men and one woman.

If the fire was responsible for the deaths which authorities said was not immediately certain it would mean seven people have died in the flames that have consumed about 760 square miles and at least 1,800 homes since the weekend. The area was burned by the Harris Fire, which straddles the Mexican border. That was the same fire that claimed the life of 52-year-old Tecate man who refused to leave his house when the area was evacuated Sunday. The other two -people killed directly by the wildfires also died in San Diego County, the hardest-hit of seven counties where fires were burning. Despite the deaths, there were hopeful signs Thursday.

Firefighters took advantage of calmer winds and cooler temperatures to launch an aerial assault on several stubborn blazes. Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted for most residential areas of San Diego and shelters emptied rapidly. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said an evacuation center at Qualcomm Stadium, which had housed as many as 10,000 people, would be closed at noon on Friday. President Bush surveyed the damage in the hard-hit community of Rancho Bernardo, where he draped his armed around a woman who had lost her home. "We want the people to know there's a better K.C ALFRED ASSOCIATED PRESS President George W.

Bush, left (in gray), along with Congressman Brian Bilbray, center, and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right survey a home destroyed by recent fires in San Diego County on Thursday. Helicopter: Corvallis crews In the meantime, although firefighters on the ground in California are reportedly getting exhausted, Womack said the helicopter crews aren't allowed to fly more than 8 hours a day. The mechanics can work 16 hours. "They're all fine," Womack said.

"They live for this." West. The crews spent two months in Idaho this summer, one helicopter has just returned from there. It is ready to board a ship for its next assignment in Australia. Womack said the company's contract with the Forest Service ends Thanksgiving Day. He's hoping the wildfires will be under control by then.

Continued from front page to the U.S. Forest Service for fighting fires around the coun- tIT "All these fires are the same," Womack said. "We just drop water." During the summer months, the helicopter crews are deployed to fires throughout the Fundraiser: OSU Beeliman: Home for Christmas The parade was restored last year, after not being held for more than a decade, she said. "We're trying to enhance homecoming, bring back traditions that may have gone away," Schwartz said. At noon on Saturday, student programs and groups will show off projects such as solar energy exhibits near Reser Stadium.

The football game starts at 3:30 p.m. Though the goal of the campaign hasn't been announced, the university previously said 58 donors already have contributed at least $1 million each to the Continued from front page The classes of 1962 and 1967 are holding reunions at the nearby CH2M Hill Alumni Center this morning, and other alumni in town can participate in "Classes Without Quizzes," which offers quick courses on everything from Oregon wines to local architecture. On Saturday, a homecoming parade that starts at 10:30 a.m. Will head up Jefferson Avenue from First Street to campus, ending at Dixon Recreation Center. "We've got the OSU Marching Band, we have Benny and the cheerleaders," Schwartz said.

"I wasn't aware of how many people care about me." Beekman spends several hours a day doing physical therapy, working to make the skin grafts fit his body. Sometimes that is painful. He must wear special gloves and compression garments to help the grafts heal properly. Gradually, Beekman is getting back to his work as a Web and multimedia designer. His hands are still not healed, but slowly he is regaining dexerity.

He and his father are planning to collaborate on a computer book. Beekman even has a new friend Fidget, a refugee from an illegal puppy mill in North Albany. Fidget has been in several foster homes since he was rescued and taken to the Humane Society on April 30. But the dog seems happy with Beekman. They've both been through some rough times.

"I feel a pretty close connection to the guy already," Beekman said. have been in unbearable pain," said his father, George. Not having to experience that pain while conscious also gave Beekman a head start in recovering from the psychological effects of the trauma. "When I woke up, I already felt OK," Beekman said. "I think I worked out a lot of psychological stuff in my dreams." Some of the dreams were weird, but they weren't all nightmares.

Some related to the fire, and some didn't. But now he has a positive outlook on his future. "This has been a really interesting tour of my mind," he said. The support of the community in Corvallis has overwh-lemed Beekman and his parents. Within a week of the fire, Susan Beekman said, the family already had a list of 175 people who wanted to help out.

There has been one benefit concert in Corvallis and another is planned for Saturday. "I've always felt oddly invisible here in Corvallis," Beekman said. Continued from front page months ahead of schedule. "I surprised a lot of people," he said, "including myself." Beekman said he is a little fuzzy about what happened in the week before the fire. But he remembers Aug.

9 pretty clearly. "I remember waking up and the apartment was already significantly ablaze including the mattress I was sleeping on," he said. He remembers ducking flames, running out his front door and closing it behind him to prevent the fire from spreading. He didn't stop to dress. If he had, he might not have made it out in time to survive, according to the Corvallis Fire Department.

Operating on adrenaline, Beekman ran down the stairs and pounded on the door of his neighbor, Neil Swanson. Together the two ran out of the building. Then Beekman went into shock. "I had a sense that I'd been burned," he said. AT A GLANCE A benefit for Ben Beekman will be held at the Corvallis High School Theater at 7 p.m.

Saturday. It will feature Neal Gladstone Friends, the Free Range Chix, Johanna and Absolute. Tickets cost $1 5 for general admission and can be purchased at www.corvallistheaters.com, at Gracewinds Music, and at Grass Roots Books Music. But he didn't know how badly. When his parents saw him at the hospital, they thought he only looked sooty and sunburned.

That was just the beginning. Burns develop over days and by the time doctors unwrapped the bandages at the burn center, the Beekmans saw their son's lips were swollen, his face scarred and his ear seriously damaged. It's been tough going. Doctors kept Beekman unconscious as long as they could. "The reason being, he would Bailey Branch several reasons: It's one of the northernmost stops on the Bailey Branch, just six miles south of Corvallis.

It's the second-largest shipper on the line, after Hull-Oakes. It has its own railroad siding and covered loading facility. And because the stretch from Corvallis to Venell Farms is only about one-fourth of the branch line's total length, it presumably would cost much less to buy and repair than the whole line. If talks break down, however, the matter could still wind up back in court. "We dismissed (the lawsuit) without prejudice," noted Alex Boal of Leonard Churchill Lawyers, the Salem firm representing the shippers' group, "which means it can be refiled." CENTURY TREE 1 SURGERY WfiVWIUIIIIII III Hazardous Removals Pruning PRUNING -DANGEROUS -STUMP GRINDING FELLING REMOVALS -40' AERIAL MAN LIFT PHONE CELL 541-936-1757 ALBANY 541-928-9118 corvallis 541-752-5950 Continued from front page ble to do so," said Wayne Giesy, a former partner in Hull-Oakes Lumber.

In turn, Giesy said, Union Pacific dropped its asking price for the Bailey Branch from $2.1 million to around $1.8 million. James Barnes, director of media information for the Union Pacific, confirmed that negotiations are taking place but declined to provide specifics of the discussions. "Since the lawsuit was dropped, we are talking to parties interested in purchasing the railroad," Barnes said. Willamette Pacific officials have been threatening to abandon the line for years, citing low freight volumes and high repair costs. But until this summer, they always stopped short of halting the weekly run to Dawson in the face of opposition from shippers, elected officials and rail transport advocates determined to maintain service to south Benton County.

Abandonment the permanent closing of a rail line is a formal procedure that requires approval by the federal Surface Transportation Board. No abandonment request has been filed with the STB so far, but that could still happen, President Bruce Carswell said. "We are still moving down a path to discontinue service on the line formally," Carswell said, unless a solution to the stalemate is found. That probably means finding a buyer for the line but not necessarily the whole 23 miles. No one directly involved in the current negotiations would discuss details of the talks, but both Giesy and Carswell said one possible outcome would be to sell a portion of the line to Venell Farms.

Larry Venell, who has been handling the negotiations for the shippers, could not be reached for comment. But Venell Farms seems a likely potential buyer for Checking today for tomorrow's journey Free Tomorrow's Leaders Today (TLT) teen checking gives you and your 13-18 year old teen all the financial tools you need. No minimum balance No monthly service fee Free debit card instantly Free online account access and bill pay Free OSU Federal ATM use Opportunity for a college scholarship Join now for the journey ahead Help your teen on the road to real-world money management. Go to any branch or call 800-732-0173 if you or your teen live, work or attend school in Benton, Lincoln, Linn, Marion or Polk County, where thanks to not-for-profit member cooperation you'll enjoy better rates and no or low fees. 3 OSU Federal Your Community Credit Union" LOTTERIES Here are the winning numbers from Thursday's drawings: LUCKY LINES 2-8-12-13-20-23-26-32 PICK 4 1 p.m.: 3 9-2-7 4 p.m.: 8-6-6-3 7 p.m.: 5-4-3-6 10 p.m.: 5-5-9-5 www.Mufnknl.coai SOO-7J2017J.