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After Echo Mountain Complex Fire, Otis leads renewal with small hands and huge hearts Matthew Denis, Register-Guard
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OTIS Ignore the piles of twisted metal and hulking orange-red skeletons of former RVs, and a new visitor to this coastal Lincoln County community may think it s the site of a new suburban neighborhood. Three months ago, this town on the incline up Echo Mountain bore a striking resemblance to fire-bombed European cities at the end of WWII.
In mid-September, a spark ignited at the top of Echo Mountain and Otis was set ablaze. Residents fled, grabbing what personal items they could, as 50 mph coastal gales quickly spread flames. In the end, the Echo Mountain Complex fire was a small, 2,500-acre blip in a massive fire season that saw 1.1 million Oregon acres burn. Even so, it destroyed about half of Otis s 1,241 structures, with 288 homes and 339 structures lost, according to Oregon Emergency Management.
Itâs no wonder that, with a once-in-a-century pandemic and a season of destructive wildfires, some Lincoln County residents find themselves unnerved and struggling to cope.
Those who have historically navigated stress and anxiety are discovering that the economic and social concerns presented by the unforeseen events of 2020 could overpower them without help. Thatâs where the CORE team comes in.
Thanks to a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Lincoln Community Health Centerâs Behavioral Health Program has formed a Community Outreach and Recovery Education (CORE) team.
Shelby Houston, a mental health outreach worker, is leading the newly-formed response team that will help residents navigate the mental health impacts of both COVID-19 and wildfires.
Habitat for Humanity of Lincoln County (HFHLC) recently received a $20,000 emergency response grant from Habitat for Humanity International to help expedite fire debris removal from the Echo Mountain Fire complex in Lincoln City. This funding will be used in partnership with âQuarters for Corners,â a grassroots volunteer effort currently working on site.
Three months after the Echo Mountain Complex fire destroyed more than 300 homes in the town of Otis, nearly 200 people are still living in hotels as the holidays approach. Hundreds more are living with family, sleeping in outbuildings like garages and sheds, or camping nearby. Unable to return to their home sites until FEMA is done cleaning up, possibly as late as summer 2021, many want to go home now.