As the fifth anniversary of the devastating Sept. 8, 2020, fire nears, there is rebuilding—and continued signs of hope; ‘I think we’re getting there, school superintendent says

By Buffy Pollock, Rogue Valley Times

Nearing the half-decade mark since the 2020 Almeda Fire, a catastrophe for the  cities of Phoenix and Talent where flames burned over 3,000 acres and destroyed more than 2,600 structures, community members recently took stock of the ongoing recovery progress and marveled at the community’s resiliency in the time following sheer devastation.

From the slow and steady reappearance of rooftops and landscape to the slowing of enrollment losses on Phoenix-Talent School District campuses, community leaders say they’re focused on brighter days ahead.

Slow but steady rebuilding

That the fire destroyed a disproportionate amount of lower-income and multi-family housing on Sept. 8, 2020, was not lost on local officials. Phoenix City Manager Eric Swanson said “rebuilding a city from the ground up” had certainly not come with an instruction manual.

For his city, Swanson pointed to a list of projects that have been managed over the past five years and commended city staff whom he said stepped up, often working in dual roles and providing continuity in managing grant applications, overseeing construction and navigating the complex financial reporting requirements from federal and state agencies.

In total, the city of Phoenix has secured more than $36 million in federal, state and private grants, Swanson told the Rogue Valley Times. In addition to continued efforts to replace housing lost in the fire, Swanson pointed to projects including a new public safety building — to replace a burned fire hall — and a rebuilt Blue Heron Park playground at the city’s signature park, which attracts some 84,000 visitors each year. 

“’Out of tragedy comes opportunity,’ is the best way I can summarize our experience,” Swanson told the Times. “Have we addressed every issue? No. This process has been, and continues to be, a marathon, not a sprint.”

Ongoing redevelopment and urban renewal, coupled with structures being built back better than before, are evident in both Phoenix and Talent.

Building back better

Michael Hoch, a city of Talent employee the day of the Almeda Fire, worked as a Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) employee from 2018 to 2020, focusing on energy and sustainability outreach education for the city. A month before the Almeda Fire in August 2020, he was hired as a sustainability and code enforcement officer.

When the Almeda Fire struck, Hoch and other city employees raced door-to-door, urging residents to leave.

Once the town had been largely evacuated, city employees were to do the same. Hoch, who lived in Ashland at the time, found himself unable to get past traffic jams and encroaching flames. Deciding to do what he could, he found himself with a small band of citizens wielding shovels and other tools to keep burning embers from causing the fire to spread even more.

“I ended up getting a shovel and throwing dirt on fire embers that were crossing Talent Avenue. I did that for several hours. … We were on the Pumphouse side where the Talent Club stood, just trying to keep it all from going up in flames,” Hoch said.

“I stayed there until the fire passed north of Talent and ended up going home at 10 or 11 p.m. that night.”

In the days following the fire, Hoch and other employees triaged how best to help residents, from sharing useful resources to essential tasks like clearing roadways and wielding a chain saw to remove hazardous trees.

“It was a very emotional time for a lot of people. … The uncertainty of not knowing what was next was a lot for people to deal with. We were able to stay coordinated and work with state agencies and federal agencies to figure out the next course of action,” Hoch said.

In the months following the fire, Hoch worked with FEMA to remove fire debris and later worked in city planning, processing permits and helping residents navigate important steps.

Standing along Talent Avenue last week, Hoch, who now works as a Measure Development Manager for Energy Trust of Oregon, smiled at the sight of ongoing construction and signs of life evident around the town.

Most recently, Hoch has helped with the region’s post-fire recovery by helping to rebuild homes in a more energy-efficient and wildfire-resistant way to ensure improved outcomes in the event of future fire events.

Scott Leonard, a senior project manager for Energy Trust, was on hand with Hoch to mark the five-year anniversary of the Almeda Fire.

Leonard said about 250 homes have been rebuilt and nearly 100 manufactured homes replaced with Northwest Energy-Efficient Manufactured Housing Program (NEEM) standards. Leonard, too, smiled at the resilience of the area and signs of ongoing recovery.

“Hearing that people are happy with their home and saving money on energy bills is rewarding. Every time I come down here, there’s more and more stuff rebuilt, new business popping up. … it’s cool to see regrowth happening, one board at a time.”

Schools continue serving impacted students

The return of homes is a crucial mark to the recovery of the community. Phoenix-Talent School District Superintendent Brent Barry witnessed the immediate impacts on families of the two cities served by his district. 

In the five years since the 2020 fires, Barry has led his district through both a physical and emotional recovery. Barry focuses on the positives that came from that day, such as the district campuses being spared from the flames and his district team stepped up to help families utilize available resources.

At the time of the fire, the high school campus was nearing completion of a $45 million rebuild — the bulk of a $68 million bond passed by voters in 2017 — when flames surrounded the campus and reduced nearby homes to ashes.

“If that high school would have burned… it would have been unbelievably devastating,” he said.

“That was a real marker of hope, that we had no buildings affected. That was something we felt incredibly blessed for.”

While a majority of district students were impacted, Barry is grateful for few injuries and few deaths.

“When you lose 2,400 homes and there are only three deaths, for how fast that thing went through, show me any other statistic like that one,” he added. While district enrollment is still down since the fires, due to loss of homes, Barry said school enrollment losses may finally be leveling off.

“We had 700 students that lost everything overnight. We’re still down about 350 students and it’s just really, quite simply, due to the lack of available housing,” Barry said. “As more housing comes on board we’ll naturally get more families.”

Barry said he is ever mindful that fire recovery is far from over for a number of families, which he hoped the community would continue to support.

“There’s really no playbook for what we went through together,” he said. “But the way the community responded. … was nothing short of amazing. … In some ways it still feels like yesterday but also like a decade ago. If you drive through and didn’t know you’d think this is looking pretty good. … I think we’re getting there.”

More signs of hope

Talent Mayor Darby Ayers-Flood said continued signs of rebuilding and revitalization give her hope.

A focus for the city of Talent, the Talent “Gateway Project” is a commercial and residential project on the southwest corner of West Valley View Road and Highway 99.

Ayers-Flood said businesses are still working to get back on solid footing and that undeveloped lots symbolize opportunity.

“Most of the homes are rebuilt, but it’s our shops, cafés and gathering spots that give our town its heartbeat. The undeveloped lots around town remind us that we still have an incredible opportunity to reimagine and influence Talent’s future together, supporting our local businesses, and creating the kind of city that creates belonging for all of us,” she said.

“With the Gateway mixed-use housing and commercial project moving forward, we can all feel the momentum building. It’s setting the pace and the vibe for what’s to come. Talent’s best days are still ahead, and every step forward brings even more progress to our town.”

Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 458-488-2029 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal. This story first appeared in the Rogue Valley Times.