A mobile home park destroyed by the Holiday Farm Fire in 2020 is being rebuilt, with new units expected this summer.
Roughly 80 people lost their homes in September 2020, when the wildfire leveled the Lazy Days Mobile Home and RV park just outside the McKenzie River community of Blue River.
“It's been a tragedy for this community, very impactful to the humans that were displaced,” said Jacob Fox, executive director of Homes for Good. His organization bought the site from its owner for $700,000 in winter 2021, and will start delivering 20 modular homes and 10 tiny homes to the Lazy Days site beginning in August.
“Being able to provide a home to people that were displaced is the whole goal here, and the homes themselves will be granted.” Fox told KLCC. “So folks moving in will own the structures, and then they'll pay a monthly fee for the maintenance of the homes and the property.”
The $12-million project will house an estimated 75 people. All units will be made by Aumsville-based Blazer Industries with fire resistant materials under Oregon building code standards.
The Holiday Farm Fire burned more than 173,000 acres and began on Labor Day, 2020. Roughly 80% of Blue River’s downtown area was destroyed, and rebuilding efforts are continuing along, with the town’s library, general store, and health clinic among the main projects. A new fire station was completed in April.
Fox said the first priority will be for people that were displaced out of the Lazy Days park due to the Holiday Farm Fire, while the second priority will be those displaced by the wildfire in the general McKenzie River Corridor community. The third priority will be locals that meet low income guidelines.
Funding for the project is comprised of $9.9 million from the OHCS Disaster Recovery and Resilience Wildfire Recovery Funds; $1 million from a HUD Community Project Funding Grant; $230,000 from a Lane County/Business Oregon ARPA Grant;$717,514 from an Oregon DEQ Septic Grant; and a Homes for Good Loan of $250,000.
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