Chetco Bar Fire Stories: In Conclusion

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“The Chetco Bar Fire stories speak to the generosity, the spirit of cooperation in individuals, organizations and businesses, as well as the public outpouring of thanks from a grateful community.”

As we finish our presentation of the Chetco Bar Fire community stories, our 2018 fire season is well underway. The season started early with the Lobster Creek fire, which began July 1st and burned near Gold Beach. Fortunately, it was contained at about 446 acres. The Klamathon fire burned its way from California into Oregon, destroying homes. The Taylor Creek and Klondike Fires are burning currently not far to the East, and total more than 155,000 acres as of August 30th, 2018.  We have had days with poor air quality; firefighters are encamped at the Curry County Fairgrounds.  Total Oregon fires to date (as of August 30th, 2018) is 797 fires. Of those, 468 fires occurred in southern Oregon (Oregon Department of Forestry).

The Chetco Bar Fire stories speak to the generosity, the spirit of cooperation in individuals, organizations and businesses, as well as the public outpouring of thanks from a grateful community. It took a coming together of these groups and individuals, from 4-H members, food banks, a local tribe, schools, Facebook administrators, business owners and community members from near and far, and so many volunteers to respond to the Chetco Bar Fire.

Wildfires, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis: these are all natural disasters that can affect us at any time. They don’t even have to be that big to have an impact on many of us. The Chetco
Bar Fire series highlights stories of people working together and of efforts that went well during a disaster. But there were also many cautionary tales and gaps in communications and support systems that came into sharp relief during this project.  These are areas that need to be addressed by all of us before the next big – or even not so big- one.

This, then, begs the question: how best do we not forget the lessons of the Chetco Bar Fire, as well as cherish the community spirit that brought so many people together? Here are some ideas:

1. Continue to educate ourselves and others: learn about and practice emergency preparedness for yourself and your family, as well as your business or nonprofit organization.

2. Communication is paramount: identify, build and maintain it at all levels.

3. Work on issues that already exist in our community: whether that be food insecurity, lack of housing, or drug addiction, these issues will be become a greater crisis during a natural disaster.

4. Celebrate and support the successes of our community: notice what is going well so we can learn from each other’s achievements.

5. Continue to share the stories from the Chetco Bar Fire and other disasters so we can identify the gaps and grow.

One of the sentiments we heard again and again in those we interviewed, was how moved they were by the coming together of people. The Chetco Bar Fire gave us a glimpse of a time when our community set aside differences and worked to help one another. Imagine what we might accomplish as a community if we can continue to do that.

Wild Rivers Connect would like to offer a special thanks to all the individuals who offered their time, their stories, and their pictures so we could share them in this series. We found, through the interviews conducted to write these stories, that one story would lead to another…and then another. There are so many stories of groups and individuals that we were not able to share; we encourage you to continue sharing them with each other.

Here is a complete list of the entire Chetco Bar Fire Series: