THE DALLES, Ore. (KATU) — Growth on a 3,500-acre wildfire burning in the Columbia River Gorge was minimal Thursday, according to fire officials, but the blaze still had claimed at least 20 homes.
“Today has actually been a good day for firefighting,” Michael Curran, Oregon Department of Forestry’s chief of fire, told KATU News Thursday evening. “Crews have been doing a lot of good work.”
He said more crews were on the way to assist those already fighting the fire, which was 0% contained Thursday.
But the fire was still burning into the night and hundreds of people were still under evacuation orders in the gorge, not allowed to return to their homes. At the height of the fire, thousands of people were evacuated.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized federal funds to help Oregon pay for fighting the Rowena Fire after the state requested the help.
FEMA determined the fire could “cause such destruction as would constitute a major disaster,” it said in a news release.
Staying behind to save home
The fire left behind the charred remains of abandoned homes and cars.
Floyd Barber said his property was a total loss. He and his son stayed overnight to save what they could.
“I don’t have insurance,” he told a KATU reporter when asked why he stayed.
He said the fire spread quickly.
“I never had a chance to grab much of anything out of the house,” he said. “Luckily, I came back, and me and my son, we fought to save the house, and I managed to do that.”
But he lost his workshop and other buildings.
“It was hot,” he said about the flames burning around his property. “It was scary, but what would you do? You know, there are other people around here who I don’t think they had insurance. You know, the economy is so bad you can’t afford it. You start cutting stuff.”
Barber said he made the last mortgage payment on his home a couple of years ago.
Donald Armstrong lost everything, leaving him with nothing but the clothes on his back.
He wasn’t home when the fire started. He was with his dog and his fiancée. He said that was enough.
“The things that matter, yeah, were with us,” he said.
While driving home, Armstrong said he saw several little fires burning by the train tracks.
“So I figured I’d go back to the house and get the stuff out of the house after I dropped her off to the doctor’s. Well, we didn’t make it back to the house,” he said.
Also destroyed was a boat that he helped rebuild. It held many memories of fishing trips with friends and family.
“My pride and joy. Yep. Gone. Melted. Yep. Just like that,” he said.
Homes spared but hearts ache for those who lost everything
Neighbors whose homes were spared said they were grateful, but their hearts ached for their neighbors who lost everything.
One of those neighbors was Jack Garvin, who will return to four walls and a roof when evacuation orders are lifted.
“Both my neighbors on my east and west, you know, their homes are gone, and, you know, those are people that I care about,” he said.
He is on vacation and said he plans to head back now to help his neighbors to start to rebuild. He said a friend living on his property kept a hose running on his home until the power went out and the water pump stopped working.
Garvin credited his friend for saving his home.
Pollo Rodriguez was one of the people who stayed behind.
“I saw the smoke over there, and I scream to my family, ‘Hey guys, come on, help me!’” he said.
Rodriguez spent hours pouring buckets of water from a hot tub, feeling the heat on his face.
“We start putting water on the roof, on the walls, on the garden; we start putting water everywhere,” he said.
Rodriguez’s home was sparred but not his livelihood.
“I lost my shop with all my tools,” he said. “I do landscaping, and I lose all my equipment, my truck, my trailer, my mowers, everything.”
Fire lines hold
Gert Zoutendijk, a spokesperson for the Oregon Fire Marshal, said even though there have been homes lost to the fire many more were still standing. He said crews were around those structures to protect them.
He said the fire lines that crews created have held and firefighters would be working to strengthen them.
Investigators said humans caused the fire, but they have not given any specifics.
KATU Digital Content Producer Steve Benham reported from Portland.