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The Patio
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Metolius River Report Hey Everybody, Here we are!!!!!……….still!!!!! This is my first official newsletter/update article. You’re probably wondering what happened, is happening, and hopefully what’s gonna happen. As you all know, the fires broke out three weeks ago. The first two days of the fire, it behaved like fires in this area do historically. It (the Booth) burned from West to East. It covered a little over four miles in twenty-one hours. At the evacuation meeting at the Community Hall, you could feel the heat from the fire, which at that point was approximately four miles from us. If you look at a map, Booth Lake is directly west of us. We weren’t liking the fire behavior. Thursday, the fire lit up and was said to be “Out of control”. We evacuated Thursday afternoon. Thank the Angels for the weather of Thursday afternoon and the rest of the week. A storm from California was headed our way. It was full of rain. When it did get here it blew from South to North…….not the typical weather and certainly not the typical direction. It dropped a little rain but the direction of the wind was key. This is what saved Camp Sherman from the history books. The fire blew north that day to almost Sheep Springs Horse Camp. That’s almost five miles downstream. We now had an approximately seven-mile flank on our side. I thought that was great until the fire folks said, “Yea, but what if the wind shifts and comes out of the West. Then you’ll have a seven mile front coming right at you.” Thankfully the Southerly winds continued and blew to the North…..away from us. Simultaneously, the fire crews were working heavily to secure the line and mop it as best they could. They used the 12 Road, or Jack Lake Road as their line. There was a little spotting over the Road, but not much. I’m sure most of you folks have read a ton of newspaper articles about the next days so I won’t bore you with the details. The second evacuation was really heavy. It was a beautiful day, winds from the South and SW. I went out to pump some gas, looked up and was amazed. I went to the bridge and looked downstream. The smoke column was enormous. As I watched I could see more columns being created, each rising up and then being pushed by the next one coming. I got some shots that will be on the site soon. We had seen columns (the large smoke plumes that sometimes get thousands of feet high) for days in different directions, but not one in this direction, and none so huge. This was ten times the size of any of the other columns. Just then the Deputy zoomed up in his patrol rig and said “The IC called, and called for immediate evac of the entire Basin”. He then raced off with the evac siren blasting. WOW!! We got the kids ready and gone with one of the neighbors, and then began to repack all the rods and reels that we had already brought back from safety in Sisters. Great timing! We talked with one of the other deputies who said the plume was approaching 40 thousand feet. The danger was that it could collapse; sending fire and smoke in all directions, or it could lay down, sending fire and smoke in one direction, but in a miles long corridor. Since we were about four miles from a plume that was seven to eight miles high, we were in potential danger. Kathy and I had been here during the first evac, and decided to stay for this one also. We stayed with permission of the authorities, to provide essential services, (gas, food, water, necessities), but also with the warning that when they came and said its time to go, we went right then and there. We agreed. The fire burned like crazy for the next couple days. I was at the evac meeting in Sisters on Friday, and when we returned at 12:30 we were amazed….again. It was 85 degrees at Highway 20. It was 56 degrees at the Store. The gas pump lights were on, and the streetlights were all on. The smoke had covered the lower part of the Basin and was blocking almost all the light as well as keeping the morning cool air from escaping. That soon cleared and it was back to being just unbelievably smoky. The winds picked up as predicted, and livened up the fire ….again. This time they (firefighters) picked up a spot on this side of the River. Keen eyesight caught the spot and rapid work took care of the spot. From what I’ve heard, this is the only spot that reached this side. The crews were lighting back burns along the road that runs parallel to the River behind the Hatchery. This worked and it is in this area that the fire got closest to the River. That night the fire slopped over the ridge downstream from the Hatchery about one half mile. Between the structure crews and wild land crews, they got the slop overs and put them out. I was told that Lower Bridge campground is fine, but I haven’t heard about Candle Creek. I think it might have had some fire go thru it. We were told that on Thursday, with the big column, that the winds created were approaching sixty MPH and were pulling the dead limbs out of the trees at Lower Bridge. On to the River corridor that most folks hike, fish, and enjoy. You won’t be able to tell that the largest fire in Central Oregon in the last 100 years was nearby. Except for the small areas by the Hatchery that I already talked about, it’s still as green, beautiful, and untouched as ever. There were a few folks who had the advantage to fish during those reentry days after the first evac. They had high praise for the short-term memory loss of those rainbows that had forgotten about all those drifts of summer. This is certainly an unprecedented time to fish. NO pressure before, during, and after Labor Day weekend!!! The Bulls are running and this should be a stellar time for then also. Now it is raining…..YEA!!! The fire people are very optimistic and we’re all very happy that life will be back to normal soon. As of today, you can only fish down to Gorge Campground. There is no access below that point. As they continue to establish fire line and mop up the areas on the 12 Road, access will be permitted. I’ll continue to send/publish updates when I hear them. As you can imagine, sales have been pretty slim since all this began. We’re having a “Fire Sale”…..sorry for the bad humor. We have tons of shirts, sweats, rods, reels, and everything else. What we don’t have here, we can access. I have friends with large shops who are willing to work with me, so that we can bring you just about any line of gear out there. Please let us know. I’ll be in touch soon. Thanks for all you thoughts and prayers during this most amazing time. Roger 1-541-595-6711 |
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