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Lane County Explores Venues For Housing Wildfire Evacuees

Brian Bull
/
KLCC

A Eugene hotel -among other sites - could become a shelter for people displaced by the Holiday Farm Fire. 

Lane County officials could purchase the 55-room Red Lion Hotel on East Broadway for $5.5 million, through the state’s Project Turnkey initiative. Its goal is to house communities affected by wildfires and the pandemic.

Earlier this month, Oregon's Legislative Emergency Board approved $35 million toward the project. That’s in addition to $30 million approved last month.

A Lane County spokesperson says they’ve received the request for application, and officials will keep looking at other funding sources and properties. They declined to comment on any one specific property.

The Holiday Farm Fire consumed more than 173,000 acres, and razed over 400 homes. 

Copyright 2020, KLCC. 

Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.