Holiday Farm fire

The Labor Day fires changed western Oregon’s view of wildfires in an era of climate change.

This September marks five years since the Holiday Farm Fire burned up more than 173,000 acres in Oregon’s McKenzie River Corridor including Blue River. It’s a scenic mountain town that’s been around since 1900, with mining and timber as its former big industries.

Blue River is still rebuilding from the Holiday Farm Fire of 2020. On April 5, the community held a block party to celebrate the progress.

It’s been more than four years since the Holiday Farm fire destroyed hundreds of homes along the McKenzie River. Last Friday, Homes for Good held a grand opening to celebrate a completely rebuilt housing community where a mobile home park once stood.

Three Willamette Valley vineyards are suing two regional utility companies for alleged neglect and for not shutting down power to the transmission lines they say contributed to the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire east of Eugene.

The McKenzie Community Land Trust is breaking ground on six affordable homes in Blue River for people who survived the Holiday Farm Fire.

Regrowth and renewal were the themes of a special ceremony in Blue River on Sunday. The event was also to highlight the history of Native Americans in the McKenzie River Corridor.

Four years after it was destroyed in the Holiday Farm fire, the McKenzie River Clinic has been rebuilt on its original site in Blue River.

The Eugene Water and Electric Board has extended a grant program aimed to help homeowners in the McKenzie Valley repair or replace their septic systems.

A federal utility has filed a motion to be dismissed from three federal lawsuits related to 2020’s Holiday Farm Fire, which devastated several communities east of Eugene.

Timber companies have filed a federal lawsuit against three utilities alleging gross negligence and recklessness in events leading up to 2020’s Holiday Farm Fire.

Tuesday’s lightning storms sparked at least a dozen small fires across the Willamette Valley. Inter-agency fire crews are stretching their resources to blot out every blaze.