Gov. Kate Brown talks with a fire commander in the Santiam Canyon on Thursday, Sept. 17. (Office of Gov. Kate Brown photo)
Residents of communities in the fire-ravaged Santiam Canyon may soon have limited access to their homes. Firefighters are optimistic that the rainy weather forecast will work to their advantage.
But despite encouraging announcements made during a press call Thursday, state officials stressed that Oregon faces a long haul to recovering from the historic fires.
The Beachie Creek Fire, which has been blazing since August and grew dramatically in the Santiam Canyon on Labor Day, is now at 191,661 acres, according to an update issued Thursday.
While the size of the fire is slightly up from the 191,238 acres reported Wednesday, 20% is contained as firefighters focus on protecting communities to the south and west.
Doug Grafe, chief of fire protection for the Oregon Department of Forestry, said that enough progress has been made on fires on the coast and southern Oregon that resources are now being shifted to larger fires.
“So now we can focus on the remaining ten large fires on the landscape,” he said.
A storm front expected this evening is also good news for firefighting efforts, he said.
Grafe said the storm is expected to bring a half-inch to a full inch of rain to the western slope of the Cascade range “exactly where I would ask for it.”
But he said that the rainstorm brings wind and lightning that could make existing fires worse. He said he hopes the rain comes before any wind.
He also expected some debris to flow after the rain hits the soil left bare from the fires.
Kris Strickler, director of the Oregon Department of Transportation, said that while the rains are good for firefighting efforts, the added moisture will create the potential for landslides that will complicate ongoing efforts to repair the state’s roads.
He said that the routes affected by the fire are lined with weakened, falling or fallen trees. Rocks the size of car hoods are falling onto roads, he said. Slopes are at risk of becoming damp and sliding downward after the fire burnt brush and roots that kept them stable, he said.
And slopes of hillsides, with their roots and brush burnt off, are loosening and sliding downward, he said.
“It may be many months or even years before some of the roads are back to pre-fire conditions,” he said.
The most impacted areas are in the mountainous regions of the Santiam Canyon and Highway 22, he said.
Strickler said reopening the roads will be phased in and 240 miles of roads are closed currently. That includes 60 miles along Highway 22 including in Gates, Mill City and Detroit. The department is seeking to open the highway for limited access for those communities over the next few days, he said.
However, he did not expect access to Detroit, which was badly burnt by the fire, to be accessible again any time soon.
He said that the damage the fires have inflicted on the state’s road system won’t be understood for weeks or even months. In the meantime, motorists can expect flaggers and pilot cars and are encouraged to use the department’s TripCheck website to look at conditions before traveling, he said.
Andrew Phelps, director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, said that the number of confirmed deaths related to the fires remained at eight. Information about additional deaths will be released intentionally and deliberately as “thousands and thousands” of homes are inspected and searched, he said.
Gov. Kate Brown said that the federal government has approved the state’s request for a disaster declaration. The declaration makes Oregon residents affected by the fire eligible for emergency unemployment assistance and Brown hopes that payments will start going out next week.
Phelps encouraged Oregonians to apply for individual assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will provide payments of up to $35,500 per household to help pay for medical assistance, clothing, school supplies, damaged vehicles and other expenses.
While the state is encouraging Oregonians affected by the fires to use their insurance benefits, he said that uninsured residents are eligible for payment of up to $35,500 per household for lost property or to secure temporary housing.
“We really want to work to make sure every Oregonian who is impacted is met where they are and has access to the services that they need,” he said.
Benefits can be applied for at disasterassistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-3362.
Contact reporter Jake Thomas at 503-575-1251 or [email protected] or @jakethomas2009.
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