Echo Mountain fire near Otis destroyed homes, spared lives

Even the cursory checkpoints manned by Oregon National Guard members don’t quite prepare you for what you’ll see a mile down North Bank Road in Otis.

The first sign of the fire that ripped through the community on Sept. 9 appears as burned underbrush on the north side of the road leading into the heart of the residential area.

“Be ready for what’s next,” says Jamie Knight, the Oregon Department of Forestry information officer escorting a one-hour trip Saturday into the heart of the Echo Mountain fire.

The carnage becomes visible at North Kokanee Lane.

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Residents of the area were allowed back from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday to inspect their burned or still-standing houses. Except for the occasional fire patrol, everyone else was kept out for six hours – including Pacific Power crews still trying to fix lines and equipment.

It was designed to let homeowners take stock. To mourn their loss alone, or marvel that the rampaging fire somehow spared their property.

Compared to the 200,000-acre behemoths burning near Estacada, in the Santiam and McKenzie river canyons, and at Talent/Phoenix in southern Oregon, the Echo Mountain fire in Otis and the Kimberling fire in Rose Lodge were tiny – 2,500 acres.

But the Echo Mountain fire burned through an area dotted with small subdivisions of manufactured homes carved into the forest north of the Salmon River. It then jumped Oregon Highway 18 and skipped up the steep hill into the Highland Heights residential area, which is filled with bigger homes and lots of trees and thick underbrush.

The fire only stopped its westward march when it crossed a small section of East Devils Lake Road and burned an empty, brush-filled lot at the north end of Devils Lake.

It officially started at 11:53 p.m. on Labor Day, Sept. 7.

Fire officials don’t yet know, or won’t yet say, what caused it. But it wasn’t until an unusual 50 mph east wind overnight Sept. 8-9 that the fire took off and raced northeast-to-southwest diagonally through the Salmon River canyon. Embers went airborne and landed as far west as the Chinook Winds golf course on the edge of Lincoln City. That — and power outages — spurred the evacuation of the north part of town, including a hospital, nursing home, businesses and motels, and hundreds of homes.

The ODF says there were 1,241 structures – homes, barns, sheds – in the area. The two fires destroyed or damaged 25 percent of them.

But unlike the other major fires burning in Oregon, the Lincoln County blazes did not kill anyone.

“It’s a miracle that we are able to report that there are no fatalities associated with this incident,” said Rick Dolan, the ODF’s fire commander.

At its height, 600 people were battling the fires, including an ODF management team from LaGrande, local fire districts, and personnel and equipment from large forestland owners.

Communities throughout Lincoln County rallied to support people who have lost their homes or were evacuated. The American Red Cross is still providing some sort of housing for 300 people. Centers to distribute donated goods have been set up in Lincoln City and Rose Lodge.

The Lincoln County School District – which starts online classes Monday – is trying to help more than 30 students and three staff members who lost homes.

And, the county is working with state and federal officials to set up a one-stop center to help Otis residents apply for aid and navigate the process to salvage, clean up and potentially rebuild.

On a bright, clear late summer Saturday, Oregon 18 was filled with cars going to and from the coast. Fishermen were looking for fall Chinook in the Salmon River. Shops in nearby Lincoln City were filled with tourists.

But just out of sight, down a rural residential road, dozens of Otis residents were sifting through the ashes of their properties, and trying to figure out what to do next.

“It’s odd to be driving along and everything looks so normal,” Knight said. “And then you turn the corner …”