One of Hermiston’s landmark flags will be replaced with something smaller after wind blew over the 138-foot flag pole at N.W. Metal Fabricators.

The business on North Highway 395 has had the tall pole for 11 years, but owner Kerry Karlson said after looking over the situation they have decided to replace it with a 70-foot pole for safety reasons.

Luckily no one was injured and no property was damaged when the pole came down more than a week ago, Karlson said.

“It just went right to the north and laid out on that field,” he said. “We were very fortunate.”

He said it looked like the old pole fell victim to the harsh winter after water got inside the base and repeatedly froze and thawed.

“Then the winds just took it from there,” he said.