Returning to community service

Numbers from the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire were bleak: 173,393 acres burned, 1,100 structures lost (including approximately 470 homes), and over $160 million in damages. However, the responses were impressive. Despite one fatality, some 5,000 people were safely evacuated along with 576 livestock and 100 domestic animals. Much of this could not have happened without the support of volunteers who themselves had also suffered losses.

Recovery has come about in many forms in the months and years since the fire. Along the McKenzie River, there are several examples of homes under construction and other sites where families have moved back to support each other and sort out the emotional and financial impacts of a wildfire.

This area has learned that a community’s healing process requires extensive resources and support. Part of that post-fire mitigation has involved some “neighborhood restoration” activity that helps residents feel a renewed sense of purpose and place.

These buildings are contributing to the healing by providing positive examples of “Building Back Better.”