Eagle Creek Fire: One Year Later, Scars Evident, Area Rebounds

PORTLAND, OR – On the afternoon of Saturday, Sep. 2, 2017, Liz Fitzgerald was out hiking in the Columbia River Gorge and was headed toward Punch Bowl Falls when she saw a group of teens.

One of them was using his phone to record video of another throwing a smoke bomb into the canyon. Then, it wasn't just smoke bombs. They were throwing firecrackers as well.

The area was parched. There hadn't been rain and red flag warning was in effect – a burn ban meant no campfires, no outdoor flames at all. Certainly no firecrackers. Get all the latest information on what's happening in your community by signing up for Patch's newsletters and breaking news alerts.

The reason for this quickly became evident as the dry land below caught fire. The woman ran back to where the kids were, asking the kid who had been recording, "Do you realize you just started a forest fire?"

The kid replied simply, "what are we supposed to do about it now?'

While the kids tried to flee but were stopped by a ranger by the on-ramp to I-84. One of the teens, a 15-year-old boy from Vancouver who has never been publicly identified, was eventually arrested and charged with setting the fire.

In the meantime, the fire spread quickly, even jumping the Columbia River into Washington State. More than 150 hikers were trapped by the fast-moving fire and would have to be rescued.

Communities were evacuated, salmon hatcheries were forced to release hundreds of thousands of fish months earlier than planned, and communities in an and around Portland experienced ash falling on their homes, their cars, their streets for days.

"There is significant damage to the trails," Lt. Damon Simmons said days after fire started. "It's going to take a while for them to recover."

The fire would not be considered 100 percent contained until November 30. As late as May 2018, there were still areas smoldering from the fire. In all, the fire consumed nearly 50,000 acres of land.

ONE YEAR LATER

If you head to the Columbia River Gorge, there are places that you can once again hike without issue. Mt. Defiance Trail is completely open as is the Mitchell Point Trail, Gorge Trail 400, and Starvation Ridge Trail, among others.

Even on the open trails, despite the presence of wildflowers and other signs of growth, the damage is still evident.

Meanwhile, the list of trails that are closed – or only partially open, usually within 25 feet of the trail – is much longer.

From Eagle Creek and the Oneonta Trailhead and Trail to the Lower Punch Bowl Trail, Multnomah Creek Way Trail, and Horsetail Falls and Trail, many areas are too damaged to allow people on them. There is also a persistent concern of landslides through much of the area.

There is no set timeline on when many of the trails will reopen. In some cases, such as Oneonta, they may not open for years. Others such as Wahkeena Trail, are expected to open by the end of the year.

While Multnomah Falls and Lodge are open – the lodge was dangerously close to being lost; it was forced to close for three months because of smoke damage – people can only travel up to the Benson Bridge; still closed is the trail to the top of the falls.

Bridal Veil and Latourell Falls are both open as well.

Visitors can make their way to Vista House but much of the Historic Columbia River Highway is still closed.

It will be at least a decade before the area will begin to truly resemble what it is was before the fire.

THE TEEN WHO STARTED IT

"I know a lot of people suffered because of a bad decision that I made. I'm sorry to the first responders who risked their lives to put out the fires, I am sorry to the hikers that were trapped, I am sorry to the people who worried about their safety and their homes that day, and for weeks afterwards. I am truly sorry about the loss of nature that occurred because of my careless action."

Those were the words spoken by the 15-year-old as he stood in a Hood River courtroom last February as he pleaded guilty to 12 misdemeanors – eight counts of reckless public burning of property, two counts of depositing burning materials on forest land, and one count each of criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.

Judge John Olson sentenced him to five years probation and ordered him to perform 1,920 hours of community service in the hope that he will "develop the love and respect for nature that you lacked last September."

Olson ordered him to write letters of apology to the more than 150 people who were trapped, the Forest Service, the city of Cascade Locks, and others.

Three months later, Olson ordered the teen to pay more than $36 million in restitution. The majority of the money – more than $21 million – is for the U.S. Forest Service. Other monies will be paid to the Oregon Department of Transportation, the state parks department, Allstate Insurance, the woman whose home was destroyed, and the Oregon State Fire Marshal.

The judge acknowledged that there is no way the teen will ever be able to repay that money but he was bound by state law to order the full amount be repaid.

In his order, Olson pointed out that while the state requires the imposition of full restitution, it also allows for the payments to be discontinued if – after 10 years – the teen has made all the payments required of him by that point, finishes probation, and doesn't get arrested.

Olson directed the Hood River Juvenile Department to develop a payment plan.

"I have learned from this experience and will work hard to help rebuild the community in any way that I can," the teen said in February. "I now realize how important it is to think before acting because my actions can have serious consequences.

"I realize how much work it takes to maintain the National Forest so people can enjoy it."

Photo via Northwest Interagency Coordination Center.

Map via United States Forest Service.