Officials are searching for the cause of the blaze at the Wallowa Mountains Visitor Center in Enterprise

ENTERPRISE – A 20-year-old Wallowa County landmark was destroyed by

fire Sunday afternoon – and with it a visitors center and several

federal offices.

The U.S. Forest Service’s Wallowa Mountains Visitor Center, perched

atop a hill northeast of Highway 82 at the entrance of Enterprise, was

consumed during the mid-afternoon fire.

Inspectors from the state fire marshal’s office will conduct an investigation later today.

The Blue Mountain Fire Overhead team has sent a “short team” of

seven to manage the incident, said Judy Wing, public affairs officer

for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.

The team will manage the operations and logistics of restoring the

communication and computer systems. Currently there is no electricity

for the remaining structures.

The office building housed the visitors center and headquarters for

the Wallowa Valley Ranger District, the Eagle Cap Ranger District,

Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, the USDA Farm Services Agency,

Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Wallowa Soil and Water

Conservation Service.

Wing said all employees have been accounted for. Including summer seasonals, nearly 70 people worked out of the office.

“First and foremost I want to thank the local fire departments,” Wallowa Whitman Supervisor Steve Ellis said today. “I appreciate their response and all of their work.

“We will now focus on how to get office functions and public services back to normal.”

The visitor center is iconic for tourists and locals alike and offered maps and information on the Eagle Cap Wilderness, Hells Canyon and the tens of thousands of acres of public forest that grace the county.

Wing said offices for the Hells Canyon NRA in Clarkston, Wash., and Riggins, Idaho, will be taking calls for information regarding the recreation area.

The Visitor Center, which opened in April 1990, is the Forest Service’s only office in Wallowa County.

“We are looking to other offices to provide support,” Wing said.

The Forest Service leases the 20,500-square-foot building from a Chelan, Wash., corporation that owns it, she said.

Although all Forest Service offices have maps and other information for visitors, the Enterprise facility was unusual for its “more intense focus on the public,” Wing said.

Because the fire didn’t damage the Forest Service’s vehicle compound, some employees were able to drive into the forest to do field work today, she said.

Forest officials have not yet discussed specific options for temporary office space, Wing said.

The Enterprise, Joseph and Wallowa fire departments all responded to the blaze as well as Forest Service and Oregon Department of Forestry wildland crews. Enterprise Fire Chief Paul Karvoski could not be reached for comment this morning.

The wildland firefighters were staged to put out any spot fires that may have occurred in the surrounding grasslands.

No other property, including the nearby Best Western Rama Inn and adjacent homes, was damaged.