The Archie Creek Fire was first reported on Sept. 8, 2020. Within 24 hours, it had spread to over 100,000 acres, and was approaching the community of Glide.
The fire eventually destroyed 109 homes and 143 outbuildings as it spread in the coming days. Many of which were in Glide, a small community that the U.S. Census Bureau estimates has around 1,500 residents.
“A lot of the people who came to Glide wanted away from people, so many of the properties are outside of what you would consider the town proper,” said Jean Beam, executive director of Glide Revitalization.
Before the fire, Glide Revitalization was focused on economic development and beautification of the area. Since the fire, it has managed nearly 300 cases for area residents, helping them rebuild the lives that were destroyed.
Beam said recovery began right away for some in the area, relaying an anecdote that private timber companies in the area were said to have replanted while the ground was still warm. But for many locals, recovery has been slow.
"I feel like we’re finally hitting a turning point, and it’s starting to look and feel a little bit more like it used to as far as the people, but I think we still have probably another five years to go before it gets to what it was before," she said.
She said the area still has many snags—dead but still standing trees—and the lack of vegetation has caused other issues, including a dropping water table and other ecological fallout.
“These trickle-down effects of the river temperature, people not having water on their property and streams being rerouted because of erosion and landslides, and nothing has been replanted," she said. "And now the [home] insurance has gone up and the flood insurance is increasing because there was a high water event. The hits just keep going after an event like this.”
She estimated at best two-thirds of the burned buildings in Glide have been rebuilt, and many former residents continue to live in nearby Roseburg.
Beam said the loss of residents has been a drain on the community in many ways, from reducing its available workforce to reducing the number of kids in local schools.
