My Oregon Family Holiday Farm Fire Relief

My Family in Oregon have been safely evacuated and are staying in motels at this time. The eight of them left with just the shirts on there backs and a few sentimental things they could grab quickly.  They are displaced, unsure of what to do, and in shock at the tremendous loss in their beloved Mckenzie River community. They were so lucky to save their dog, 3 cats, & turtle. Yet, it’s very challenging  staying in a hotel room with all these animals, and they are currently searching for an Airbnb that will house them all. Unfortunately they are quite expensive and they are unsure how long they will be without a home or any of their things. It could be months. They also have lost their jobs as most of their community is burned to ashes.  Any help is truly appreciated. They will use donations to buy food, clothes, essentials, & lodging. I wish I could be there in this teriffying time. Here is something my sister wrote on the night of the fire:

The night of the fire, we had taken the kids and went to one of the houses on Goodpasture that Scott & I caretake. We had lost power and hadn’t eaten yet, and there is a generator at the house. So around 10 pm we went there to make some pizzas and we watched Home Alone. We thought we were only dealing with a windstorm and no electricity.

We were considering just sleeping there that night so we had power. But during the movie, I started feeling anxious because Wi-Fi and cell service were out, so we had zero communication. I didn’t like not knowing what was happening with the storm.

So we packed up and left. By this time it probably going on 1 am. When we got to Vida, the road was blocked and there were police everywhere. Cassidy called me instantly and said, “Mom where are you. We need to go. The fire is coming.” It was like a bad dream.

Scott and I had separate vehicles and I saw him drive through the road clock into oncoming traffic. I was terrified, but followed suit. ( if you know me, I do not do things like this!) We got home to huge ash falling everywhere and the thickest smoke where all I could do was cough.

Everyone in our neighborhood was frantically packing there cars and grabbing there animals. We ran into our dark house with our phone lights trying to gather the most important things. For me it was all my photo albums. I didn’t get any of my clothes ( I have been wearing the same dress for days now) or any of the other sentimental things that I was sad I forgot.

We loaded up our cars, everyone scared, and I know at least I was crying. I didn’t know how to choose the things I needed most in these conditions. I was not prepared. ( big lesson learned) I thought if this ever happened, we would have notice. But there was no notice. Cops were driving by with loud speakers shouting, “ get out now.. do not grab your belonging.. leave now.” We finally gathered all of our animals ( Lotus was very hard & scratched my moms arm up terribly ..as she is an outdoor kitty in the summer) and family and took off in the convoy of cars headed out of our beloved Mckenzie Valley.

Our group of friends and family met up at the family dollar store 20 min down the road to make sure we had everyone. From there we weren’t sure what to do. Finally we decided to search for a hotel. It was 4 am when we finally found one and the only reason it was available, was because there was no hot water.

This morning I woke up to the news that the house we almost spent the night in burnt to the ground that night. If we would have stayed, we would not have known anything that was happening and would have woke up to the house on fire. We were far away from any road, with a gate at the end of driveway, so I fear that we would have been trapped.. with no one to warn us. This is terrifying to me. And I fear that the bad news will just keep coming.

Also, this was my main source of income and I spent so much of my time taking care of this property. It’s hard to imagine it being gone. So far, half of the homes that I work at, have burned. Life is so unknown right now. I need to get out of “survival” mode and into “life” mode. I am working on that...