A long road to recovery still lies ahead
It’s been well over 1,000 days since the Holiday Farm Fire devastated the McKenzie River Valley. The blaze began on Labor Day of 2020, September 7, and still has a lasting effect on local residents trying to rebuild.
“It’s a milestone, not necessarily one that we celebrate,” says Melanie Stanley, a Blue River resident who has been working with the Cascade Relief Team in Blue River. “There’s a lot that’s happened as far as recovery goes. We’ve made a lot of strides, but we still have a long way to go.”
Stanley owned a general store right off Blue River Drive, which she lost to the blaze along with her home. She now serves as a local authority figure for the area as a team member of the Cascade Relief Team. She was able to rebuild her home and only just recently got the county’s approval to start rebuilding her store.
Progress on rebuilding efforts varies from person to person, depending on a variety of circumstances including insurance problems, permits, costs, etc. Sadly, she says some left altogether.
“I actually spoke with a person last night… he just gave up, and said that was it,” Stanley said. “He couldn’t handle it anymore, and he walked away from his property that he’s owned for like 35 years.”
Miyanna Hayes is another Blue River local working with CRT, whose family has lived in the area for nearly 50 years.
“My mom lost her house, my aunt lost her house, I lost my house. I don’t have any thing left from before I was 21 when the fire hit,” Hayes said.
Hayes returned to Blue River in November of last year after living in Redmond. She says that she’s currently living in a trailer, and that while it’s not ideal, it’s more than others might have. In January, Hayes joined CRT in hopes of rebuilding the community that has meant so much to her.
“It’s just, it’s really sad to see all of that be destroyed in one night. All of the people who lived here for years and years and years, not being able to come back home to the only home they’ve ever known,” said Hayes. “And so I want to be able to help provide the resources to get that back.”
Organizations like CRT have been assisting the community with rebuilding efforts and getting people back into their homes. The main stretch of Blue River Drive has finally begun new construction after barriers to obtaining building permits were recently lifted. There is also a variety of temporary housing for those still in the rebuilding process.
Blue River still wears the scar of the Holiday Farm Fire, with Stanley’s burnt general store sign still standing nearly three years later. Across the street from the sign stands a metal phoenix statue, called “Viribus,” built from the scraps that the fire left behind, with a plaque inscribed with the following:
“This sculpture celebrates the spirit of a strong community, and shows that new beauty can emerge from difficult circumstances. The ‘heart’ of Viribus is a vessel of water gathered from the McKenzie River, the true heart of this community.“
“We’re working hard up here in the whole 26 miles of burn. And everybody’s doing their very best to get back to whatever normal is going to look like for us now,” Stanley said. “Even though it may look like we’re almost recovered in a lot of spots, we’re still not. We still have over 300 homes that need to come back, and businesses that need to come back, and people that need to come home.”
Source: KVAL