Looking southeast on Detroit Lake, April 14, 2021.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
It’s been nearly three years since the Labor Day wildfires of 2020 which burned more than a million acres across Oregon and destroyed more than 5,000 homes and buildings. Nine people died in the fires. Among the places hardest hit was the community of Detroit in Marion County, where roughly 80% of the homes and businesses were destroyed. But according to Mayor Jim Trett, Detroit’s recovery is proceeding faster than expected. Detroit Lake, on which the local economy heavily depends for tourism, also reached full capacity earlier this month, thanks to snowpack levels not seen in the state since 2008. We hear from Trett about his hopes for the summer, the status of rebuilding efforts and lessons learned to help Detroit respond to future wildfires.
Note: This transcript was computer generated and edited by a volunteer.
Dave Miller: From the Gert Boyle Studio at OPB this is Think Out Loud. I’m Dave Miller. It’s been nearly three years since devastating wildfires around Labor Day 2020. They burned more than a million acres across Oregon, killing nine people and destroying more than 5,000 homes and buildings. The city of Detroit in the Santiam Canyon was among the hardest hit communities. Roughly 80% of Detroit’s homes and businesses burned down in what became known as the Santiam Fire. The city is heavily reliant on tourism. So we thought we would check in with Mayor Jim Trett after this past weekend’s unofficial start to the season. Jim Trett, welcome back.
Jim Trett: Thank you for having me back.
Miller: It’s good to have you on again. How was Memorial Day weekend in terms of visitors?
Trett: We were ecstatic! The state campground, with 300 camping spaces, was full. Three of the camp sites operated by the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service, I understand, were full. And several smaller campsites along the highway operated usually by Marion County Parks were also full. And we had people in town.
Miller: As recently as about a month ago, maybe a little more than a month ago, the lake was pretty low. That was before a ton of rain and snow melt filled it up pretty quickly. But how are you feeling? If we had talked five weeks ago, what would you have said?
Trett: If you’d have called me before March 12th, we were very concerned if the docks would even flow. In fact the Corp of Engineers, which operates the lake had intimated that would probably not happen. So we were very, very nervous because that would have devastated our economy at a time when we really need people to be coming back. And the long term there is that once they start going someplace else, they don’t come back. So, we were very concerned. But from March 12th to April 10th, the lake came up 88 ft.
Miller: You said that if that hadn’t changed, it would have been devastating, which maybe answers this question. But just how central is the lake and recreation tied to the lake? How central is that not just Detroit’s economy, but the region’s economy?
Trett: The whole region, it’s devastating. The Sandia Canyon we consider starts at Lyons-Mehama, an unincorporated area to Mill City, Gates, Detroit, and Idanha. And they will all tell you that when that Lake isn’t full, their economies suffer, ours probably more than some of the others. I have reports from the cities of Stayton and Sublimity, which are about 37 miles west towards Salem. They see a down blip and their economy too. So it’s huge for us to get people up there.
Miller: What happened to the marinas in the fire two to three years ago?
Trett: Both marinas lost their buildings. The good news was the lake was being drawn down. So they were below where the ground level is for the rest of the town and the fire went out over them. So they were able to operate their docks last year and this year, and they’re now in the process of looking at how they’re going to rebuild their store or Marina offices. And one of them has a little restaurant bar that they’re planning to expand.
Miller: But there’s enough infrastructure there that, recreation wise, as you said at the beginning, people are there by the hundreds or thousands?
Trett: Yes, you looked out at the lake and there were boats everywhere. We had people in town, walking around, enjoying the three food trucks and one sit- down small restaurant we have. And they were very supportive of those. I’ve talked to those business people and their businesses were very busy this last weekend.
Miller: What kinds of events are you gonna be holding over the next four months?
Trett: We have a couple [events] we just completed, the Fishing Derby Weekend, which was the weekend before last weekend and that was very well attended. We have a local gentleman, Scottie Alexander, who grew up in Detroit, came in second on one of the America Got Talent or American Idol, I’m not sure what show it was. But he came in second and has a band in Memphis and is big in Texas. He came out last year to do just a concert by himself and said he’d come back this year. He’s bringing his band.
So we have the Scottie Alexander concert on July 29th. And that is actually going to, we think, morph into an annual music festival. Saniam Music Festival is what we’re calling it now. So that could be ongoing and we already have interest from other groups. And then we have fireworks over the Lake on July 1st. We always encourage people to come up for that because it is a beautiful site with fireworks going on over the lake and all the boat lights on the lake. It’s just a special kind of event, you know.
Miller: Can I ask you about that? Obviously, this is over the lake. So it’s not like that’s necessarily a fire risk. But I’m just wondering, emotionally, have you had people who survived the fire say to you, “I don’t want to see things exploding in the sky”?
Trett: Not as much this year. We had some concern last year from some of our residents. I think I talked to a couple who said, “We’re just planning to be out of town for that weekend visiting family.” But we’re seeing less and less of that. People are now adjusting. I’m not saying there aren’t some people out there and we try to be aware of that but, again, this is one of the things that we do to bring people in and we’ve had a lot of locals say, “Yeah, we want to get back to these kinds of events.”
Miller: So let’s turn to the broader rebuilding questions. I mentioned that about 80% of homes were destroyed. What percentage has already been rebuilt or it is truly down that road?
Trett: The last I checked, and that’s been a little while ago, 45% of the lots that were burned are either rebuilt, being rebuilt or under permit to rebuild. We saw a little downturn because of lack of material, the supply chain thing. Now we’re seeing some people having lots saying they’re gonna hold off a little bit just because of interest rates and things like that. So that’s it. FEMA came in and we’ve been working with them on rebuilding our water system. And they’re saying we’re actually coming back faster than a lot of communities that they work with.
So we’re, we’re grateful for that. A lot of them are homes. Our business district is still suffering because of some septic issues with Marion County. Our board of commissioners and, and the public work staff are coming up with a plan to help us with a septic system for our business district.
Miller: So far residential, whether that’s primary homes or vacation homes, the rebuilding of homes is outpacing the rebuilding of the business district. And that’s why you have three food trucks right now as opposed to three brick and mortar restaurants?
Trett: Yes, three food trucks. Just a couple of weeks ago, one of our business people opened a small sit down restaurant that has a patio. Over the weekend I saw a lot of people using that restaurant and sitting on the patio enjoying the weather. But, so that’s our first sit down restaurant that we’re pretty proud to have back in town.
Miller: What do you think it’s going to take to have more of a business district come back?
Trett: It all revolves, as I mentioned, around the septic system. We have a lot of people who want to come back, or build a business, but looked at the septic needs, with the drain field. So they didn’t have room for a building, once that was in. Like I said, Marion County Public Works has been working hard for the last several months on coming up with a plan for helping businesses reestablish with a septic system that works for their property or joining properties together. In fact, they just announced that they have the plan and they’ve opened it up for applications from business and potential business owners.
Miller: Whether we’re talking about businesses or residences, how much of the construction you’re seeing or the plans to build are people who are rebuilding in some way or are moving there for the first time?
Trett: I don’t really have that. I know a lot of them, most of them seem to be rebuilding, but we have a fair number, probably about half and that’s just off the top of my head, with people who have decided to move on. A lot of those were moving on simply because they said of their age and maybe health issues. I had one of my good friends who was gonna rebuild and then looked at me and said, ‘I’ll be almost 90. Will I be alive to see the house built? So I decided that it was time to move on.’ But a lot of the people who are, if you will, younger are choosing to rebuild.
Miller: You mentioned that you heard from FEMA officials that the pace of rebuilding or recovery in Detroit is faster than some other cities that have largely burned in wildfires in recent years. How do you explain that? I mean, what do you think has been happening that has worked in Detroit?
Trett: I think part of it is… I’ve been amazed since my time in Detroit and I’ve been going up there for years. But I’m amazed, as I talk to people in the valley and other parts of the state as I’m attending meetings, how many people have some kind of tie to that lake. And again, that expresses the importance of the lake. They grew up camping there and they bring their families there now. And I think some of those people who are buying now see that as an opportunity to actually become part of our community. And that’s what we’re excited about.
Miller: We are once again getting close to wildfire season. Even if it’s snowpack is looking really good right now. And it’s been a pretty rainy or snowy winter and spring nevertheless. No doubt we’ll deal with wildfires somewhere in the West. What goes to your mind these days when it gets drier and hotter?
Trett: [We’re] even more aware of the potential. I mean, we’ve been aware for years. In fact, we said, years before 2020 when the two fires hit, that that could be what got us or what we probably would see happen. So we’re even more aware of what the potential is. People in town, I think, are still a little nervous when they see smoke. You’ll see that our social media sites light up. ‘Does anybody know what that smoke is and things like that.’ So we’re definitely more aware. A lot of these homes are now built with fire prevention in mind. So we’re excited for that. But I think still, our big concern is that we know it could happen again.
Miller: You said that in some of the rebuilding, you’re seeing more of a fire awareness. So what are examples of ways that rebuilding you think has changed because of the fire?
Trett: They’re using fire resilient materials, roofing that’s harder to burn, a lot of the trees are not there anymore because they did burn down. So they’re looking at that defensible space around their structures being, I think, more common. People are more aware of it. But a lot of it is just using more fire resilient material in their build.
Miller: Jim Trett, thanks once again for joining us. I appreciate it.
Trett: Thank you very much. Really appreciate being with you.
Miller: Jim Trett is the mayor of Detroit. He joined us to talk about the city’s ongoing recovery from the Santiam Fire which really exploded right around Labor Day of 2020.
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