Herman Schimmel, 63, moved to the tiny town of Westfir about 40 miles southeast of Eugene only recently, and on Friday he was scrambling to pack up his travel trailer and evacuate his RV park as the Cedar Creek wildfire put the area under serious threat.
“Get out of here as fast as I can,” he said. “That’s all I was thinking about.”
Oakridge area residents displaced from their homes by the raging Cedar Creek wildfire, which more than doubled over the weekend to 86,000 acres Sunday, braved the heat and smoke while watching and waiting for one thing — to go home.
The fire’s spread slowed dramatically Sunday as the weather shifted favorably for firefighters, according U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Randy Pyle. The weekend’s strong east winds largely dissipated, with temperatures dropping and relative humidity improving, he said.
“Firefighters are working around the clock, and they’re going to continue to work hard to try and slow down the spread of this and gain control,” Pyle said.
More than 860 personnel, plus 30 engines and seven or eight helicopters were battling the flames at last count, Pyle said. Any changes to evacuation orders would be made by the Lane County Sheriff’s Office.
In the meantime, residents in need of indoor shelter gathered at a Lane County Fairgrounds site operated by the American Red Cross, while others booked hotel rooms and about 30 families camped out in their cars and RVs at Lane Community College.
“It’s worse every day. It leaped like seven miles in a few days. And it’s not supposed to rain again until October,” said Oakridge resident Robin Williams while resting on the community college campus inside a sedan packed with blankets and belongings.
Williams, 28, his partner, Jess Humphrey, 25, and their cat, Spyro, spent the night in a hotel, only to learn that a voucher wouldn’t cover their lodging and the bill would come out of their own funds.
They said some residents appeared to have stayed in Oakridge, which was under a Level 3 (go now) evacuation order from Friday to Sunday, when some areas were downgraded to Level 2 (be set). Some of those residents posted photos of smoke and flames on a Facebook group for community members.
“There’s still quite a few people out there trying to just batten down the hatches and their properties, unfortunately,” said Williams.
On Sunday, Oakridge Mayor Chrissy Hollett posted messages to Facebook urging residents to make safe choices and she live-streamed updates from the town’s center, which was part of the area reduced to a Level 2 (get set).
“Visibility is pretty poor,” she said, demonstrating how the treeline had disappeared into the ashen air near Oregon 58, the town’s main drag also known as the Willamette Highway.
Kachina Inman, assistant director of Lane County Health and Human Services, who was serving as incident commander for the evacuation site, said officials had deployed transit buses to evacuate medically fragile residents and on Sunday were focusing on connecting them to local health care providers.
Other county workers were handing out water, snacks, and keeping the displaced residents up to date on the latest news about the wildfire, which was sparked by a lightning storm Aug. 1.
“I just have seen incredible strength,” Inman said of the Oakridge and Westfir residents. “This is a very hard time for that community.”
Casandra Relli, 46, and her son Jaye Beasley, 18, said weather emergencies were simply becoming a fact of life. They endured a major snowstorm four years ago as well as the smoke from the nearby Kwis Fire last year.
“Climate change happened,” Relli said. “Fires are going to be there, and you just have to accept it if you’re going to live in these places.”
The family lives just across the road from the downgraded evacuation areas. For now, it’s a waiting game.
“You know the smoke is bad when you can’t see 100 meters in front of you,” said Beasley, “and you can stare at the sun.”
