A8
News
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
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The Bulletin
CANYON CITY — Driving
up Canyon Creek, south of John
Day toward Burns, the devasta-
tion is dramatic.
The Canyon Creek Com-
plex Fire tore through this can-
yon in mid-August, leaving the
woods and community forever
changed.
“This was so awesome in
here before this,” Grant Coun-
ty Judge Scott Myers said as
he drove his pickup along U.S.
Highway 395 through the can-
yon. For about 8 miles the high-
way cuts through where the
wild¿re burned and destroyed
homes. Around each turn comes
a shocking sight, remnants of
once proud homes or homes that
were somehow spared from the
Àames.
The Canyon Creek Complex
Fire destroyed 43 homes, 39 in
the canyon in a massive Àare-up
on Aug. 14. Another side of the
¿re blew up more than a week
later, destroying another four
homes. Now those who lost
homes are weighing whether
to stay and rebuild or leave the
canyon and live elsewhere. Con-
cerns about potential Àooding
factor into the dif¿cult decision.
The destruction is some of
the worst in Oregon history.
By comparison, the Awbrey
Hall Fire in Bend destroyed 22
homes in 1990 and the Skeleton
Fire, also in Bend, destroyed 19
homes in 1996. The two Bend
blazes had stood as the worst in
terms of homes lost in the state’s
modern history until the Canyon
Creek Complex, Brian Ballou, a
spokesman for the Oregon De-
partment of Forestry, wrote in
an email.
Back in 1936 a wild¿re that
likely started in smoldering log-
ging slash spread into Bandon,
on the Oregon Coast, he wrote,
burning nearly every structure in
town and killing 11 people.
The small size of Canyon
Heart of Grant County would like to
thank all the hardworking volunteers
that helped to make our second annual
“Color Me Free” fun run such a success!
¬
Karen Johnston
TJ Bremner
Andrea Officer
Sherry Dowdy
Amanda Whale
Ed Studtmann
Peggy Murphy
Glen Johnston
Tracy Blood
Kathy Kight
The Bent] family¬
Sonna Smith and the Grant Union Cross
Country Team
Mariah Boyd
Ginni Frazier
Cody Boden
Shane Whale
Tyler Blood
Oaklee Clark
Valeda, Byron, Meagan, and Austin Grant
Laura Saul at Cloud 9 Hair Salon
Hunting with HECS
¬
Also special thanks to Healthy Together,
Dr. & Mrs. Ken Peterson and Mr. & Mrs. Bob
Armstrong at Oster’s Professional Group for
their generous donations¬
¬
To the amazing people that contributed
their efforts that we have failed to mention…
we appreciate you all!
02886
Contributed photo/Jesse McKinley
A heavy air tanker drops fire retardant Aug. 15 in
the Marysville area of Canyon City.
City, a mining boomtown in
the 1800s and about 700 resi-
dents, ampli¿es the impact of
the ¿re.
Three times in its history
Canyon City has had to rebuild
from disastrous ¿re, in 1870,
1898 and 1937. Those ¿res
burned through the town’s busi-
ness district.
For the people who lost
homes, barns and more to the
Canyon Creek Complex Fire,
the past two months have been
a time to see what they can
salvage and brace for wintry
weather ahead. The same can-
yon that funneled the ¿restorm
could churn with Àoodwaters
this fall and winter, a worry also
for people living along Canyon
Creek whose homes did not
burn.
“We are preparing for the
next big rain, that is for sure,”
said Judge Myers. “We have
a lot of black dirt with nothing
holding it.”
He has been in touch with
about half of the people who
lost homes. Their feelings about
whether to rebuild in the canyon
are split.
“It’s about 50/50 from those
A WALK IN THE WOODS R
After spending two decades in England, Bill
Bryson returns to the U.S., where he decides the
best way to connect with his homeland is to hike
the Appalachian Trail with one of his oldest friends.
FRI & SAT
(4:20) 7:20 9:40
SUNDAY
(4:20) 7:20
MON-THURS (4:10) 7:20
GOOSEBUMPS PG
A teenager teams up with the daughter of young
adult horror author R.L. Stine after the writer’s
imaginary demons are set free.
FRI & SAT
(4:10) 7:10 9:35
SUNDAY
(4:10) 7:10
MON-THURS (4:10) 7:10
CRIMSON PEAK R
A woman tries to escape the ghosts of her past and
is swept away to a house that breathes, bleeds...and
remembers.
FRI & SAT
(4:00) 7:00 9:30
SUNDAY
(4:00) 7:00
MON-THURS (4:00) 7:00
$9 Adult, $7 Senior (60+), Youth
I’ve talked to,” Myers said.
Rebuilding
Andy Jones, 56, lived in a
home just off the highway for 15
years. The house, built in 1941,
had history. It was known lo-
cally as “Hank and Guernsey’s
Place” after the couple who
used to live there. Guernsey
Pond, between the farmhouse
and highway, long served as a
community ice rink, with lights
to allow for nighttime skating.
The home was likely the
second house destroyed by the
¿re as it charged through the
canyon, said Jones, an IT work-
er for the U.S. Forest Service.
Flames charred cattails that sur-
rounded the pond. While Jones
and his wife have been living in
Washington to care for his ailing
mother-in-law, he said the cou-
ple plan to return to the canyon.
Walking around the black-
ened, ash-covered ground where
his home once stood he said
Wednesday that he and his wife
plan to rebuild. “We are looking
at it that we got to start a new
book,” Jones said. “… We are
hoping that someday we’ll be
able to live here again.”
When they do he said it will
likely be up the hill, to be away
from the Canyon Creek and
the Àood danger, and to have a
view of Canyon Mountain. The
broad, rocky-topped mountain
towers over the surrounding
burnt woods.
rental in Canyon City.
“(The rental is) all fur-
nished,” he said. “It even had
elk meat in the freezer.”
Moving on
Since 1975, Arlen Van Nice,
80, lived in a home along the
highway, in the canyon. Two
weeks into cleaning up the cou-
ple were still sorting out scrap
metal and hoping to ¿nd any-
thing salvageable.
“You keep thinking you’ll
¿nd something, and you don’t,”
Van Nice said. “Everything is
gone.”
He had a small collection
of items pulled from the ashes,
mostly for sentimental reasons,
in the back of his pickup.
“That’s my skinning knife,”
Van Nice said, holding out a
handle-less blade dulled by the
¿re. “I don’t think it will skin
any more elk.”
The Van Nices have an acre
of land along the highway. Be-
fore the ¿re it was lush and eight
to 10 deer would pass through
daily. Now that the woods are
gone, the couple will be too.
Van Nice said they plan to
move somewhere else. Where?
“Someplace green,” he said.
Other damages
Along with 43 homes the
Canyon Creek Complex Fire
destroyed at least 10 outbuild-
ings, according to the Northwest
Interagency Coordination Cen-
ter, which organizes wildland
¿re¿ghting around the North-
west. Outbuildings include
barns, garages, sheds and other
structures. While such structures
may seem small on paper, their
loss can be big for the people
who had them.
A signature silver barn used
to tell people passing by on
Highway 395 that they were at
Deer Creek on the Berry Creek
Ranch. The historic barn is
gone, and that’s just the begin-
ning of the damage at the 400-
acre ranch.
The ¿re also destroyed fence
line and timber, said Gordon
Larson, 51, a retired Oregon
State Police commander who
owns the ranch with his family.
He’s lived there since 1996 and
since retiring in 2014 had looked
forward to spending more time
working on the land.
Cruising the ranch in a John
Deere Gator, he stopped to point
out where the Berry Creek Fire
— one of the two ¿res that be-
came the Canyon Creek Com-
plex Fire — began and then all
the damage it did.
“This ranch has been our en-
tire life,” he said. “(It was) really
hard to see it burn.”
He feels for his neighbors
who lost their homes. While
much of the ranch was left in
ruin, at least his home and the
new home under construction
on the ranch survived the ¿re.
A member of the school
board, Larson said he is proud to
be a part of Canyon City and the
greater area of John Day. He and
his family have no plans to leave.
They will rebuild the ranch.
“I’m not giving up on John
Day,” Larson said. “I’m not giv-
ing up on this canyon. I’m not
giving up on ranching.”
One of his neighbors is Judi
Stimac , 72, who has lived in the
canyon since 1999. Her house
also remains standing, but she
lost a barn, workshop and log
cabin. The ¿re also destroyed
her “campsite,” a spot where
she and her partner, Mike Nault,
71, would host barbecues for
friends and family. The campsite
was up the hill from her home,
tucked into the woods they held
dear. During a walk around the
property Nault looked up at
blackened snags lining a ridge.
“We will never live long
enough to see the trees (like they
were),” he said. “They grow real
slow.”
The couple were doubly af-
fected by the ¿re. Nault has a
home on Pine Creek, near where
the second group of homes were
lost to the Canyon Creek Com-
plex Fire. His house stands, but
Àames took his water system
and other crucial equipment for
his off-the-grid home.
Undecided
Dean Elliot, 86, does not
know yet whether he’ll rebuild
where his old home stood or
move to a new spot.
He lived in a home along
Canyon Creek for 53 years.
His big concern is the Àood and
mud that will likely come down
the creek during heavy rain and
snowmelt.
Elliot and other locals are
Tuick to mention the Àooding
of 2011, which damaged Grant
Union High School downstream
in John Day. They predict Àood-
waters could be worse this year
due to the size of the ¿re.
For now, Elliot and his wife,
Betty Elliot, are staying in a
02875
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Dearest family and friends of Grant County,
Words can NEVER express our appreciation and love that pours
out of our hearts for everyone who sent food, flowers, cards and
many (generous) gifts in loving memory of our Leonard. The love
we felt then and now is overwhelmingly heartwarming to us.
I grew up here in Grant County all my life and love it dearly.
Never in a million years did I think that I would have to
experience such a tragedy of losing a child. And the love of this
community has been such strength for us.
I would like to send a special thanks out to Troy Hanson, Kayln
Burill and Jackie Osborne for going over and above the call of
duty for our needs. You guys are awesome. Thank
you. And Wally Williams for assisting the team
at Driskill with our needs. You have helped
so many people in this community with
their loss of loved ones. Nobody does it
with more heartfelt grace and
compassion than you...Thank you so
much.
We would also like to send a special thank
you to Connie Wood, Sue Lemons and the lady
Elks, Lucie Imoos, Pam Alley and the Forest
Service ladies for the purchasing, preparation
and clean up of all the food at the reception.
Everything was perfect. Also, thank you all in this
community who brought food, drinks, cards and
accommodations during this time.
Thanks to all the firefighters and EMTs that
showed such a warm welcome to us all on our
drive home from Baker. We would like to send a
special thank you to all of Leonard’s young
friends for coming to see us during this time.
With that being said, we want to tell all of the
youngsters of this community: Death is not a
myth. It’s a reality. It can happen to anyone at
anytime. It has no age limit. So make good choices,
look out for one another, and wear your seat belts.
Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.
We love you,
Andy and Kathy Radinovich
02863