Out of sight, out of mind is a concept Helene Watkins understands. With Gulf Coast hurricanes causing chaos, it’s no wonder the School Fire that roared through southeast Washington was all but forgotten.
Watkins, though, has been there. The rural people who lost their homes in August are much on her mind.
“There are places where trees totally burned. They’re gone, nothing but holes in the ground,” the Stanwood woman said.
She and a friend, Garet Munger, recently returned from a road trip that took them to Garfield County and the fire-ravaged area south of Pomeroy. Time spent in places blackened by the School Fire, named for a canyon, was “very sobering,” said Watkins, a 62-year-old Boeing retiree.
“People lost homes and everything they had,” she said. “Admittedly, it’s not the scale of Katrina. These people maybe lost their double-wide or their single-wide mobile home, but they still lost everything.
“We hear so much about New Orleans, but here is a crisis in our state,” Watkins added.
The 41,000-acre wildfire started Aug. 5. Garfield County officials estimated that it burned 100 homes, many of them vacation homes and hunting cabins, according to the Associated Press. The state’s southeast corner, nestled between the Snake River and the Blue Mountains, is sparsely populated, with a wealth of outdoor recreation.
“It’s such a cool area,” said Watkins, who lived in the Waitsburg area near Walla Walla in the early 1960s. “We like to be off the beaten track, and there are hundreds of miles of roads in that little corner of the state.”
My first job out of college was in nearby Pendleton, Ore., a metropolis compared with Pomeroy, population 1,425. In three years there, I came to love the clear skies, cold winters and hard-working people.
Just north of the School Fire acreage, Watkins and Munger attended the Garfield County Fair. There, they bought a Heart to Heart hat, with proceeds going to a fund to help families affected by the fire.
“In this seemingly impoverished area, people had huddled up and taken neighbors in, and created a food bank and clothes bank,” Watkins said.
Lisa Lund and Sandi Dixon, friends from Pomeroy, organized the Heart to Heart for Fire Families fund.
“Eleven families lost their primary homes during the School Fire. We still have some in travel trailers,” said Lund, a U.S. Forest Service employee.
With winter coming, Lund said, they’re trying to get people into “temporary permanent housing – basically, rentals.”
Putting a roof over the heads of 11 families doesn’t seem too daunting, not with the enormous needs caused by Hurricane Katrina fresh in our minds. But anyone who has driven those beautiful back roads between Walla Walla and Spokane knows there are few housing options. It’s farm country.
“One family lost two homes – the dad and his wife, and a son, his wife and three kids,” Lund said. “This is a very small community. There are 2,400 people in the whole county. This is going to be a long process. It’s not like we have FEMA or something.”
Lund will never forget the weeks when the fire raged and then smoldered south of town.
“It started on the Tucannon (River) and came up out of the School Canyon. With the wind conditions, it was going 3,000 acres an hour,” Lund said. “Flames were going hundreds of feet in the air. We all feel very fortunate that there was no loss of life, considering all the recreation in the mountains. They were able to get everybody out.”
Lund and Dixon, both widows, have collected canned food, gift cards, furniture and other items through Heart to Heart. Now they’re selling raffle tickets for a quilt, with proceeds helping the fire victims.
They’re looking ahead to the holidays and months of cold and snow. “We don’t know if we can continue to supply food, clothing and household goods,” Lund said.
Lund is grateful to people in her small community and to others all over the Pacific Northwest who have helped. “We couldn’t do this without them,” she said. “This fire was still going on when Katrina and Rita hit, and those people have such a devastating situation. But the families in our area also experienced trauma.”
Late in September, the whole world watched cable news coverage of the fires in Southern California. Homeless people near Pomeroy?
Out of the media spotlight, out of mind, I guess.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.
Helping fire families
The School Fire in southeast Washington in August destroyed more than 100 homes. The Heart to Heart for Fire Families fund has been set up to help. Donations will be accepted at any US Bank branch or any Sterling Savings Bank. The funds are under the names of Lisa E. Lund and Sandra J. Dixon.
Heart to Heart’s mailing address is 718 Main St., Pomeroy, WA 99347. For more information, call 509-843-1040 or 509-843-1051.
Julie
Muhlstein
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