Oregon 4th District Representative Peter DeFazio said Thursday the devastation wrought by the Holiday Farm Fire is unbelievable. He toured the fire’s wake with a regional administrator at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
DeFazio said the entire community of Blue River is gone, except for the high school. He said the McKenzie River corridor is transformed for generations to come. DeFazio said the FEMA administrator agreed to provide 18 months of housing for people who lost their homes to the fire.
“We’re looking at potentially putting them in some of the lodges up there that survived, because they’re not going to have any tourists for a while.” DeFazio said. “It’ll still give them business. It’ll allow community members to be in the community and be housed and to help with the recovery effort.”
DeFazio said it’s going to be a long recovery process. He advised those whose homes were damaged or destroyed to first file with their insurance if they have it. Then register with FEMA, to move toward longer term emergency housing.
FEMA: 1-800-621-3362 or Disasterassistance.gov
