One person has been killed in the Holiday Farm Fire, Lane County Sheriff's Office stated in a press release Friday evening.
"We are saddened to report that on (Friday), fire personnel were in the area of Goodpasture Road in Vida when they located a deceased person in a residence within the perimeter of the Holiday Farm Fire," the release stated.
First responders are working with the medical examiner's office to identify the person and will notify the next of kin before publicly releasing their identity.
-Jordyn Brown
More: Lane County Sheriff reports first known fatality in Holiday Farm Fire
Holiday Farm Fires donation center moves Saturday to north Eugene
The donation center operating at Silke Field at Springfield High School will be relocating Saturday to a location for long-term drop-off and sorting in north Eugene.
St. Vincent de Paul, United Way of Lane County and the Lane County Emergency Operations Center are partnering with the grassroots organizers of the donation center to support the center. St. Vincent de Paul will begin managing the donation location and overall process.
The new location at 2699 Roosevelt Boulevard will open to receive donations on Saturday. It will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
No donations should be taken to Silke Field or Lane Events Center.
Any donations previously delivered to the Lane Events Center will be moved to the new donation location.
Hazardous air quality cancels several weekend events
From parks to outdoor events, here's a list of closures because of the unhealthy, smoky air quality: www.registerguard.com/story/news/2020/09/11/holiday-farm-fire-closures-cancellations-lane-county/3473074001/
Firefighters hopeful for containment progress
After four days of rapid fire growth in the McKenzie Valley, with bad weather conditions and limited resources to fight it, Friday signaled a turn toward containment.
There were 425 people working to fight the Holiday Farm Fire on Friday morning, up from just 209 Thursday and fewer than 200 earlier in the week.
The fire still grew from 145,000 acres Thursday to 156,708 acres Friday. However, this jump was significantly smaller than days past, and firefighters were able to keep many structures safe.
In addition, members of the Oregon National Guard arrived and will be staffing checkpoints on the roads so that sheriff’s deputies are free to patrol neighborhoods.
“Our field operations people — the people who are on the ground — they said they had a good night last night and a good day yesterday,” said Damon Simmons, spokesperson for the Oregon State Fire Marshall. “We didn’t lose any structures overnight, so that was a very positive thing.”
The change in weather is also significant as they try to get a grip on this fire.
“We had winds in the 10 to 15 mph range yesterday, and today we’re looking at winds probably less than 6 mph, which is awesome for firefighting,” Simmons said.
The shift from Holiday Farm Fire being wind-driven to terrain-driven would allow firefighters to move from a defensive strategy to offensive for the first time since it started. This would mean creating fire lines and clearing out terrain that the fire’s fueled by.
Simmons said with all of this in mind, they are hopeful for some containment on the fire in the next couple of days.
— Jordyn Brown
Firefighting priorities focus on safety, clearing roads, setting fire lines
The Holiday Farm Fire Incident Command Update on Friday reported firefighters have been working to protect structures and establish control lines as well as prioritize clearing roads, such as Highway 126, for responder access to the area.
Crews on Thursday established defensible space around communities to keep the fire away from homes and businesses. There are currently 17,732 structures threatened by the fire.
Once fire conditions are safer, responders will work in tandem with the Lane County Sheriff's Office to check structures and conduct assessments of impacted residences.
"We understand there's a lot of community concern about structures, as soon as we are able to we will provide the information," Lane County Sheriff Clifton Harrold said at a Thursday press conference.
"We need the community to understand that this is an active fire, it’s still happening and we need to let the fire folks do their work first. Life saving is the priority," he said.
Public and firefighter safety remains the highest priority, responders emphasize.
Fire managers are asking the public to avoid the fire area. Roads are closed throughout the fire to give firefighters room to work and to keep the public safe.
"We really need you to pay attention to the evacuation zones and heed them," Harrold said. "It’s of upmost importance, not just for your safety but for the firefighters. We’ve had reports from firefighters that on the east side of that highway there are people on the road who just do not need to be there. It’s hindering operations and it’s causing a safety hazard."
Fire-weakened trees, ash pits, falling rocks and other debris are just some of the hazards.
"We know that the community wants to get back in there," Harrold said. "You may have heard from somebody that they used a back road to get in there, but five minutes later that information is old. So please don’t listen to that rumor mill information."
Other rumors Harrold dispelled Thursday concerned stories of people looting evacuated homes. "We have not seen any reports of widespread looting. That is something the community is feeling anxiety about for sure."
— Michelle Maxwell
Lane County, Eugene consolidate smoke, fire respite centers to one site
The city of Eugene along with Lane County opened three smoke and fire respite centers Wednesday in Eugene. Because of low usage of the sites and to conserve resources, the centers will be consolidated into one expanded shelter site at the Lane Events Center, 796 W. 13th Ave., city officials announced Friday. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the weekend.
The site is designed to provide a place for anyone who does not have access to indoor shelter or power to come indoors.
Additionally, Lane County is continuing to work with homeless service providers to provide N95 masks for distribution, so far supplying 300.
"Providing safe overnight shelter requires qualified service providers and the process to put that in place would likely be longer than the actual poor air quality event," the city said in its announcement.
Because of COVID-19, the county is not recommending congregate shelter at this time. City staff are actively working with partners to identify additional locations for non-congregate shelter sites and are asking the community for help in that effort.
Prior to the pandemic, the city said, the number of unhoused people relying on illegal camping in Eugene and Lane County was significant. Since the pandemic, capacity at local shelters and centers is even more limited to allow for physical distancing. "This has added considerable additional strain on a system that had already reached capacity," the announcement said.
Due to the hazardous air quality conditions the city will only enforce prohibited camping sites that are imminent health and safety hazards. The city said it has not been and will not be conducting “sweeps” of camps.
Although, because of "significant community concerns about activity in the park including fights, illegal burning and unsanitary conditions," the city said Eugene police did respond to a specific incident in Scobert Gardens Park. CAHOOTS assisted and helped transfer people from the park to the clean air shelters.
Gov. Brown: Dozens reported missing during Oregon wildfires
Dozens of people have been reported missing in the Oregon wildfires, Gov. Kate Brown confirmed Friday.
Oregon State Police are reporting dozens of cases, specifically in Lane, Jackson and Marion counties.
Oregon's Office of Emergency Management Director Andrew Phelps said thousands of structures have been destroyed in the catastrophic fires and officials were preparing for a "mass fatality event."
Oregon's wildfires ballooned to more than 1 million acres Friday.
Officials with the Marion County Sheriff's Office said as of Friday, 10 people reported missing in connection to the wildfires have yet to be accounted for. The remains of four people have been found.
"At a time of great loss, the women and men of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office want to express their deepest condolences to those in our community who have lost loved ones and homes during these last few days,” Sheriff Joe Kast said in a statement.
Family members and officials confirmed that a 13-year-old boy and his 71-year-old grandmother died in the Beachie Creek Fire in Marion County.
Searchers also located two additional victims of the Beachie Creek Fire.
"Due to treacherous conditions, recovery efforts will be underway once a safe plan can be put into place," Griffith said. "Once the remains are identified, names will be released pending notification of next of kin."
One body was discovered in a residence in the Goodpasture Road area of Vida within the perimeter of the Holiday Farms Fire, according to the Lane County Sheriff's Office.
Two bodies were recovered in the Almeda Fire in southern Oregon. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported that 50 people remain unaccounted for in the aftermath of the fire.
Many have turned to Twitter and Facebook for help with finding their missing loved ones. A father's tweet to find his daughter and her boyfriend, who went missing while camping near McKenzie Bridge, collected more than 23,000 retweets.
The woman and her boyfriend were located Thursday and are now safe, according to the father's social media page.
Brown did not provide a hard number of how many people were reported missing and said the primary focus remained on saving lives.
Brown said she expects the initial number of reports to change.
"Right now, I know that Oregonians are very eager to seek information," Brown said. "As we get more information regarding missing persons and fatalities and structure damage, we will certainly provide that information, but it is going to take time."
— Whitney Woodworth, Salem Statesman Journal
Bethel Schools delay start to Sept. 21
Bethel School Board called an emergency meeting Friday morning to discuss pushing back the start of the school year due to the Holiday Farm Fire.
The board unanimously approved pushing the first day of school back to Sept. 21. Students were scheduled to start distance learning on Sept. 14.
This follows identical decisions by other local school boards this week: Springfield Schools made the announcement on Wednesday and Eugene 4J followed suit on Thursday.
— Jordyn Brown
Greenhill Humane Society providing emergency pet services
Greenhill Humane Society is working with local authorities to provide emergency services for Lane County pets. This includes emergency boarding for dogs, cats and other small animals in evacuation zones.
To coordinate emergency boarding, contact Greenhill 24 hours-a-day at 541-689-1503 or www.green-hill.org.
Pet food and supplies are also being distributed at the evacuation zone and are available for pickup from Greenhill Humane Society at 88530 Green Hill Rd.
— Matthew Denis
Cottage Grove business hub offers free workspace for fire evacuees
Downtown Cottage Grove’s Bank Building is currently offering free office workspace for fire evacuees or powerless citizens resulting from Oregon’s unprecedented wildfires.
Just about 20 miles south of Eugene-Springfield, the Bank Building Offices in downtown Cottage Grove are offering a free, open workspace that includes free internet and wi-fi along with coffee and hot water on a limited, first-come, first-serve basis.
Constructed in 1904, the renovated Bank Building Offices opened July 1 as a local business hub. Upstairs apartments sit above the ground floor office space next to Bartolotti’s Pizza & Pasta, Edward Jones and Juanita’s Latina Store. The Bank Building’s located at 609 E. Main Street, Cottage Grove.
Learn more at www.BankBuildingCG.com or 541-942-3870.
— Matthew Denis
Bloodworks to host pop-up drive thru
Bloodworks Northwest is hosting a pop-up blood drive at the Holiday Inn Express in Springfield on Friday. This pop-up arose as many Holiday Farm Fire evacuees currently staying at the hotel asked how they can donate blood in order to help fire victims.
This community gift can help make a difference in not just the local community, but up and down the West Coast where nearly 28,000 firefighters and support personnel are fighting fires that have burned more than 4.5 million acres in 12 states, with evacuation in place for residents residing near 42 large fires across the West, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
The devastation wrought from burns also can lead to a potential disruption of vital blood supplies. Giving blood helps organizations such as Bloodworks prepare to help people in fire-stricken communities and replenish essential supplies for blood centers and hospitals across the West.
Bloodworks is working closely with hospitals to coordinate transportation and alternate routes for delivering blood to ensure local blood needs are met. In adherence to current pandemic conditions, Bloodworks also is testing all blood donations for COVID-19 antibodies to identify people with antibodies to support severely ill coronavirus patients.
Today’s Bloodworks pop-up will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express in Springfield, 919 Kruse Way, First Floor Riverbend 3; 800-398-7888 or schedule.bloodworksnw.org for further details.
— Matthew Denis
Holiday Farm Fire evacuation zones as of Friday afternoon
The Holiday Farm Fire has nine evacuation notices for Lane County. A total of 17,632 Lane County residents have been evacuated, Oregon State Fire Marshal incident commander Ian Yocum said Thursday — 4,776 from Level 3 zones, 671 from Level 2 and 6,275 from Level 1. Officials expect the evacuation zones to remain the same.
"Now that we’ve established them, we are feeling really confident that they are what they need to be," said Lane County Sheriff Clifton G. Harrold at a Thursday press conference.
The updated evacuation point is Silke Field at 875 7th Street in Springfield.
Here is a roundup of all Land County evacuation notices as of Friday 2 p.m.:
Level 3 "Go Now"
- Everyone from Walterville Elementary east to the McKenzie Ranger Station, including all roads to the north and south of the highway.
- Upper Camp Creek Road and residents past Wendling Road on either side of Marcola Road.
- Mohawk Valley north of the McKenzie River and east of Marcola Road, including Upper Camp Creek and Camp Creek roads.
- Mohawk Valley north of Marcola Road and Hill Road.
- All residents from Walterville Elementary School (Highway 126 milepost 15.25) to the intersection of Thurston Road and Highway 126.
"Level 3 means leave immediately! Do NOT take time to gather things. Go now! DO NOT delay leaving your property to gather any belongings or make efforts to protect your home. If you choose to ignore this notice, public safety personnel may not be available to assist you further."
Level 2 "Be Set"
- The McKenzie Ranger Station to the junction of Highway 126 and Highway 20 (Santiam Junction).
- Residents on the west side of Marcola Road from the intersection with Old Mohawk Road and including Hill Road north to the community of Mohawk.
Level 2 means being prepared to leave at a moment's notice. It indicates there is significant danger to your area and residents should either voluntarily relocate to a shelter or with family/friends outside of the affected area.
Level 1 "Be Ready"
- Fall Creek, Winberry, and Lowell areas north from Hills Creek to Signal Point Boat Ramp.
- All residents from Highway 126 to Bob Straub to Jasper Road east to Thurston Road where it intersects with Highway 126 north to the McKenzie River.
Level 1 means be aware of the danger that exists in your area and prepare for possible evacuation.
Eugene School District adjusts start of school in response to wildfire
The Eugene School District has postponed the start of the school year, the district announced after an emergency session Thursday.
School will begin on Sept. 21 instead of Monday for 4J.
The change is to acknowledge how the weather and crisis conditions have interfered with readying students and caused some staff to evacuate their homes. The goal for next week is to get devices out to students, weather permitting.
“We're in this unique situation. We've never been here before and it's gonna take kindness and patience. I know it’s frustrating for parents and the community,” Chair Board Mary Walston said Thursday. “We're all in this together and we want to be supportive for the other districts.”
The 4J district will be sending out a detailed calendar and memo to parents and guardians.
— Dana Sparks
SPD patrolling Thurston, has found no rise in crime due to wildfire
The Springfield Police Department issued a statement addressing police response, criminal activity and rampant misinformation Thursday afternoon as some Springfield residents are evacuating.
Springfield crime rates have not risen, but reports of impersonation of Fire Marshals, looting of evacuated homes and the spread of unverified information have emerged.
Upon investigation, SPD has not identified anyone regarding concern for impostor fire marshals. Similarly, after investigating, they found homes had not been looted, rather friends and families were attending to homes that were preemptively evacuated.
SPD is encouraging continued reporting suspected criminal activity and scrutiny of unverified information drawn from social media.
“While we rely on social media to share information with the public, please be wary of unverified information you come across on social media platforms,” said SPD in the news release.
There will be increased patrol presence in certain areas of Springfield to deter criminal activity and identify potential issues. Contact the Springfield Police Department's non-emergency number, 541-726-3714, with specific concern, so that they might address questions with verified information.
— Dana Sparks
Eugene YMCA opens showers to evacuees
The Eugene Family YMCA opened its doors Thursday for those displaced by wildfires to shower.
Closed to traditional fitness Thursday due to the hazardous air quality's impact for those exercising, the Y facility will open from noon to 8 p.m. for showering — a need for those fleeing wildfires who have found smoke respite centers but no way to get clean.
The Y will continue to offer showers to wildfire evacuees during normal operating hours on Friday and Saturday: 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 to 8 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. to noon Saturday. Two ADA-accessible showers are available on the Y's Pool Deck.
Lane County Health prepping for possible COVID increase
Lane County Health spokesperson Jason Davis said Thursday that the health department is preparing for a possible uptick in cases associated with the raging wildfires.
Firefighters living in close proximity with each other and those fleeing the flames at shelters present a risk for the virus to continue spreading, Davis said.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Lane County rose Thursday to 818 known cases, which included 12 people who now have died, according Davis. There currently are two county residents hospitalized.
Willamalane closes all facilities, smoke respite sites
Willamalane in Springfield closed all of its facilities — including the temporary day-use respite shelters — on Thursday "due to sustained hazardous air quality both indoors and outside."
The closure affects all facilities, parks and trails. Willamalane had previously opened up the Bob Keefer Center and Willamalane Adult Activity Center as smoke respite sites.
The Bob Keefer Center parking lot is still allowing RV parking, according to a news release from Willamalane. "No RV dumping is allowed and we do not have power or water hook-ups available," the release said. Limited spaces were available.
Willamalane is working with firefighting teams at Bob Artz Memorial Park. "Firefighters currently have the support and resources they need and are unable to take donations of any kind. Donations should be directed to local disaster response organizations, such as American Red Cross," the release said.
Officials: Don't return to Level 3 evacuation zones
Lane County and fire officials are finding that people are returning to Level 3 evacuation areas that are closed to the public.
Officials are warning residents that the closure of areas under a Level 3 Evacuation Notice, including the roads within those areas, are necessary to protect the safety of everyone.
People who return to those areas are placing themselves at risk from fire, falling trees, downed power lines, debris, landslides and the other safety issues caused by wildfire. Unauthorized people also can cause delays in firefighting activity if they are in the way of firefighting equipment or if fire personnel end up needed to assist those unauthorized people.
If people are part of an organized volunteer group for a community agency or organization, they should wait to be deployed through the appropriate channels for their own safety and to ensure they do not interfere with the fire response.
How to find out if you're in an evacuation zone
With multiple evacuation notices in effect for the McKenzie River corridor area, Lane County created a Fire Zone Evacuation Address Search to quickly find out whether your address is in the evacuation zone.
Go to lcmaps.lanecounty.org/EvacuationSearch2020/index.html to enter in your address to find out.
Residents who are affected by the Holiday Farm Fire, also referred to as the McKenzie fire, who have inquiries may call Lane County’s non-emergency call center at 541-682-3977 between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. After-hours calls will be transferred to the Sheriff’s Office non-emergency phone line. People also can go to lanecounty.org/mckenziefire
If you are under an evacuation notice, please comply with requests made for Level 1 (Be Ready), Level 2 (Be Set) and Level 3 (Go Now).
Evacuation locations, call center
Lane County has a temporary evacuation point at Silke Field, 908 N. 10th Ave. in Springfield for those who were able to evacuate to the west. (The location was previously at Thurston High School and was moved for safety.)
Residents who are affected by the McKenzie Fire who have inquiries may call Lane County’s non-emergency call center at 541-682-3977 between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. After-hours calls will be transferred to the Sheriff’s Office non-emergency phone line.
Those who evacuated east are encouraged to head toward the Deschutes County Fairgrounds in Redmond, 3800 SE Airport Way.
How one family escaped the Holiday Farm Fire with only minutes to spare
If Bill Wiese and his family had been asleep for five more minutes in their home near Blue River on Monday night, they almost certainly would have died.
They went to bed just before 8:30 p.m., unaware it would likely be the last time they slept in their double-wide trailer before the 37,000-acre Holiday Farm Fire overtook it. They received no alerts, no knock on the door — it was by just sheer lifesaving luck that their son woke up in the middle of the night to the flames right up against the side of their home.
With no time to waste, 70-year-old Wiese, his family and his dog fled by foot up the steep bank behind their home, scrambling through blackberry brambles and over downed trees to the road above.
“As we’re running for the bank, you can hear the cars blowing up and you look back and see these big balls of flames,” Wiese said. “It was right on our house when we woke up, and by the time we got up to the road you looked down and you could see the fire completely around the house.”
Once they reached the road, they found another family fleeing the area who picked them up. Wiese directed their ride and a caravan of seven vehicles through back-road highways, stopping as a group to saw through downed trees and debris as the fire nipped at their heels.
They made it out, but barely. Rikki Estrada, who also escaped by minutes, said it should have never happened this way and there should have been a better alert system.
Wiese still has no idea how their son knew to wake up when he did.
“All I know is he saved our lives,” Wiese said. “Five more minutes and we’d be dead.”
They were some of the lucky ones. Officials said it's likely some didn't survive.
Eugene area park areas closed
Howard Buford Recreation Area, also known as Mount Pisgah, is closed to all visitors, including the arboretum and river trails, until further notice, possibly through the weekend.
The low humidity, dry conditions, high temperatures and wind pose a significant risk of wildfire in the park, according to the county.
No visitors will be allowed entry to the park. Entrances will remain barricaded until the closure is lifted. The park will remain closed until conditions improve.
Due to the nearby McKenzie Fire and windy conditions, the city of Eugene Parks and Open Space Division has closed indefinitely both the entire Ridgeline Park System as well as Skinner Butte Summit in downtown Eugene. Hendricks Park is considered part of the Ridgeline Park System so it will be closed as well.
The Link LonkSeptember 12, 2020 at 11:07AM
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Updates: Holiday Farm Fires continues to grow, but firefighters are hopeful for containment progress - The Register-Guard
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