S moke S ignals
JANUARY 15, 2017
7
'It’s going to be a long process'
FIRE continued
from front page
Shaw, granddaughter of Genevieve
Ray and great-granddaughter of
Elizabeth Lafferty, had moved back
to Grand Ronde to live in her par-
ent’s RV with her boyfriend, Barry,
while undergoing chemotherapy
for cancer.
“It’s going to be a long process.
Some of the insurance said it could
be eight to 10 weeks before we see
anything,” said Tammy of her cur-
rent situation. “We’re staying at a
motel until we run out of money.”
Word of the fire spread through-
out the community on social media
via the Facebook page YamCoW-
atch. Someone familiar with the
family called Tammy’s sister, Holly
Partridge, at work in the Tribe’s
Legal Department to tell her of
the fire.
Local fire crews began responding
to the blaze around 3 p.m. and they
reported encountering a 150-gallon
propane tank upon arriving on
scene. Crews reported the tank
was hissing and that there was an
explosion at 3:13 p.m.
West Valley Fire responded with
an engine, a duty officer, an Ad-
vanced Life Support rescue unit
and a water tender. Sheridan Fire
Department responded with two
engines, three tenders and a duty
officer.
“My dad had just had surgery
and I knew my mom was with my
dad so I texted her and asked her
where she was,” said Partridge.
“She texted me back saying she was
on her way back to Grand Ronde
because the RV was on fire. So I
took off from here. In fact it was my
parent’s motorhome and my sister
was living there.”
Partridge said local fire depart-
ment crews were already at her
Photo courtesy of Holly Partridge
Tammy Shaw was living in her parent’s recreational vehicle on their Grand
Ronde property until it was destroyed by a fire on Thursday, Dec. 22.
parent’s home when she arrived.
“They had to call in extra fire
trucks because there are no fire
hydrants up there so they had one
down at the river getting water,”
said Partridge. “They were going
back and forth filling up with wa-
ter.”
Partridge said the fire crews let
them go into the house near dark
once they had everything under
control. Partridge said Red Cross
personnel showed up at her par-
ent’s home around 7 p.m.
Tammy arrived home shortly
after learning of the fire while at
work. She had just purchased pres-
ents for Partridge’s six boys and
was devastated that those items
were in the fire.
“I had a tough year,” said Tammy.
“I beat cancer to have everything
I own go up in flames. I gave up a
20-year career so that I could beat
cancer and then to lose it all.”
Prior to learning of her cancer,
Tammy sold restaurant supplies all
over the country. When she learned
she needed to take time off to have
her thyroid removed as part of the
Free Playgroup in
Grand Ronde!
*
cancer treatment, she also learned
her boss would not allow the time
off.
Tammy said she quit to move
home to be with her family and take
on cancer. Living in her parent’s RV
was going to be a stepping stone for
her climb back to the top of her life.
After learning of the fire, Par-
tridge immediately went to work
helping her sister and said she is
very thankful that her supervisors
allowed her to take the Friday off
after the fire.
“The next morning I brought her
a clean, fresh change of clothes be-
cause she literally had the clothes
on her back and that was it,” said
Partridge. “I brought her up to the
Tribe to get replacement medica-
tions, a new Tribal identification
card and to start trying to start
over.”
Partridge said her sister, despite
everything that had just happened,
purchased new presents for Par-
tridge’s boys.
“She did that even after the fire,”
said Partridge. “We had family step
up and go to Salem and Portland to
get clothing. They ended up with
bags full of clothes and shoes. Just
the amount of support everybody
provided was just amazing.”
Partridge took to social media
and shared the situation on Face-
book and set up a GoFundMe page
for her sister and Barry. Partridge
said she had to rent a storage space
to collect all the items that have
been donated by community mem-
bers and the family.
“I had co-workers here at the
office donating cash. I had people
When: First Thursday of each
month 10:00 am-11:30 am
Where: CTGR – Community
Service Center 9615 Grand Ronde
Road Grand Ronde, OR 97347
Who: Parents and caregivers of
children under 5 years.
Why: Come to play, have a snack
and have fun!
AMERICAN INDIAN TEACHER PROGRAM
coming from the casino and donat-
ing cash,” said Partridge. “I had
people donating coats. People from
the clinic gave her a gift certificate.
We have been overwhelmed with the
amount of support. My mom opened
her door one morning and there was
a casserole sitting there with a bag
full of clothes for my sister.”
One of the people in the commu-
nity – and there were many – was
Tribal Council member Denise
Harvey, who said she knows loss
and wanted to reach out.
“For me, it’s just seeing someone
hit with a tragic situation and an
immediate loss and providing them
with some relief with some goods
and services they may need to cre-
ate something,” said Harvey, who
lost a son in a drowning accident.
“I relate a lot of that back to when
people talk about a loved one dying.
When you lose someone in a tragic
instantaneous loss it is different.”
Harvey said her heart goes out
to the people in the community,
but especially when something like
this happens.
“I had to accept my loss. I had to
recover from that,” said Harvey. “I
think anytime you can help some-
one recover from some type of loss
and create some comfort for them
you do it.”
Partridge said there has not been
a cause determined for the fire and
that not everything can be replaced
by insurance.
“The RV is covered and the shop
is covered so they will be able to
rebuild everything,” said Partridge.
“There was 30 years of my dad’s
tools in that shop. On his free time
he builds stuff.”
Both Partridge and Shaw said
they have been amazed at how
much support they have received
from throughout the Grand Ronde
community.
“People are still asking if there
is anything they can do,” said Par-
tridge. “This community is amaz-
ing. The amount of support that
our family received was amazing.
So I wanted to thank everybody
that helped.”
“We have an amazing communi-
ty,” said Shaw of the support she
and Barry have received. “I mean
a lot of people stepped up.”
People can still donate at www.
gofundme.com/my-sister-lost-ev-
erything-in-a-fire. n