CHERRY GROVE, Ore. — The Lee Falls Fire's rapid growth on Thursday afternoon left residents of the nearby community of Cherry Grove with little time to prepare before the Level 3 "Go Now" evacuation order came down.
"Level 3, you gotta go. They don't tell you where to go, they just tell you to get out," said Ginger Heisler, one of the evacuees.
She and her family threw tents, sleeping bags and any other camping gear they could grab quickly into the car and headed for a ballfield in nearby Gaston. It felt like they weren't leaving a moment too soon; they could see flames on a nearby hillside, there was ash raining down and smoke everywhere, and they could feel the heat on their arms.
"That was scary — it's almost like you're in an apocalypse," she said.
The ballfield is serving as an emergency shelter, and Heisler said all of the people there are friends, with whole streets of neighbors having to evacuate all at once. The evacuees are expecting to have to wait for several days.
"We started packing as much as we could... the smoke was coming over the hill, ash in the sky falling... " recalled Doug Dailey, another evacuee. "We just got out of there as soon as we could."
Dailey and his wife Denise have lived in Cherry Grove for 23 years, and they and other residents said they're overwhelmed by the feeling of not knowing what's going to happen to their community. No structures have been lost so far, but fire officials said about 100 homes in the community of 500 people are considered threatened.
Gaston Fire District spokesperson Gert Zoutendijk said fire crews working overnight and on Friday have been focused on increasing the amount of "defensible space" around the threatened homes.
The Daileys were able to grab a few irreplaceable items on their way out, such as a stained glass piece made by a friend for their 25th anniversary, but they're worried about their house.
"It's been one of my worst fears living in Cherry Grove, is having a fire," said Denise Daily.
She added that even if all the community's homes survive, she's heartbroken to think about the damage that the fire has likely inflicted to the scenery near Lee Falls.
"I think folks might not realize how traumatic it can be, to be told last minute to just get out," said Priscilla Fuentes with the Red Cross Cascades Region, which is operating the emergency evacuation shelter.
Part of the challenge in fighting the fire comes from the remote location, Zoutendijk said — more than 60 firetrucks and other vehicles from around the Portland area and Yamhill County were deployed to the fire on Thursday, but there are only about a dozen streets in Cherry Grove, so trying to bring the equipment while evacuating residents at the same time was difficult.
A few people have suffered minor injuries since the fire broke out, including two firefighters, one resident and a contractor. As of Friday afternoon the crews have been able to get a firebreak line around 75% of the fire, but that doesn't mean it's contained yet, Zoutendijk explained — the line has to hold for 24 hours before it can be considered a containment line.
"We're pretty optimistic we have a good, solid line," he said. "If the fire flares up, goes a different direction, just know there's 15 pieces of apparatus doing everything they can to protect those homes."
The Red Cross has warned that given the number of fires burning in Oregon this summer, even those not directly affected at the moment should think about being prepared in case of an evacuation.
"It happens in our backyard, it doesn't have to happen in eastern Oregon," Zoutendijk said. "Everybody should really be prepared."