SALEM, Ore.--I live about 25 miles away from the Beachie Creek fire, and on this day in October, there were two more fires threatening. The weather was hot and dry, and the fire had smoldered for weeks on a steep mountainside before it exploded with the high winds, just past Labor Day. The sky in Salem was an incredibly eerie orange for over a week, and people were instructed to stay inside.
It was the waning days of the census, and I had a few addresses to get to that day in Mill City and Gates, Oregon, about half an hour from Salem. The fires had already swept through these small, mountain communities. Both towns were hit hard, with the cities of Gates and Detroit destroyed.
As I drove into Mill City, I started seeing the destruction, the stand-alone chimneys and metal roofs laying on foundations with nothing between. The weirdness was some homes spared next door to one totally destroyed. Made me a bit sick and hesitant to go knocking on doors, but I figured I might as well get this done and maybe the residents won't be bothered anymore.
The first house was in a small subdivision. As I was passing by, there was a woman, maybe 70's who was out front just getting back home after the evacuation; her home was spared, as was her next-door neighbor's, but the next one down, actually three or four houses down, were all gone.
The house I needed to go to was just a few doors down, the other way. The man was home, able to complete the interview, and so afterward I asked him how was everyone holding up. He said that there was an arsonist caught about a mile away with a 55-gallon drum of some kind of flammable liquid in his truck.
The city of Gates was worse. Smaller town, but seemed like a larger percentage of buildings were lost. One address was on a road off the main route that runs parallel along the river. I located it on the phone's map, but the entire couple of blocks were gone. Same for the next house; gone. In the center of Gates, at its main intersection, there is a little mobile home park on one corner with some businesses across from it--but they were all gone, the burned vehicles about the only thing I could make out.
Across another street from that mobile home park was my next address. His house was spared, and we talked for a little bit. His house was on another intersection, and directly across the other street he pointed out another building that burned down. Ironically, right next to it was their city hall, a small building, looked like it might have been an old gas station once. That too was spared. He told me that his son's house, which was about a half-mile away, was also spared, though it was the only one on his block, the rest were lost.
That was the end of the line. I had two more addresses that were in the Residents Only zone, and I wasn't about to try to talk my way past the police to get in. Just leave them be. This was the most destructive fire in recorded history. It destroyed 1500 structures, and covered 402,274 acres. Five people died and one person went missing.
I have to say the people there are tough; they're rebuilding, not crying and waiting for handouts. I personally know one lady who lives in Gates, works at the retirement facility where my mom lives. Her house was destroyed, but she was at work the next day!
The morning before I left for these communities, I had wondered if I should go -- city officials were instructing us to stay indoors--and there were two days where Salem itself had the worst air quality on the planet. But the census office gave no instruction.
Finally, I had to hard press the office to get an answer about it. I asked them, "If I am okay being outside, what about the people answering the doors if their immune system is compromised?"
I was already on my way when the census office half-heartedly offered us the option to make phone calls. But I'm glad I went. Seeing all the devastation made me feel lucky and thankful. It was a reaffirmation that I've been very fortunate in many aspects in my life and, in return, just want to think of ways I can help people without making it seem that I'm checking boxes on a resume.
I have some more ideas in mind….
--Les Wielgos