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SUNDAY FOCUS: BOLES FIRE Out of the ashes: Weed slowly recovering from Boles fire Comment By Damian Mann Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Posted Dec. 21, 2014 at 2:00 AM Updated Dec 21, 2014 at 11:01 PM By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Posted Dec. 21, 2014 at 2:00 AM Updated Dec 21, 2014 at 11:01 PM » RELATED CONTENT --> How to help Boles fire relief organizations say what they really need now is cash. For information about helping victims, go to ... » Read more X How to help Boles fire relief organizations say what they really need now is cash. For information about helping victims, go to https://weed.recovers.org/. • Recovery in Weed, California » Social News The Cougar Cafe is closed, but that’s a good thing for the victims of the Boles fire. Owners Joyce and John Oliver closed the restaurant temporarily and turned the building, the Mercantile Mall, into a relief center for the victims of the Sept. 15 arson fire that destroyed 157 homes and impacted this 3,100-member California community so profoundly. Despite an outpouring of donations from Southern Oregon and Northern California, recovery in Weed has been a slow, painful process. Blackened, stark trees remain on the hillside north of town. Not a single house has been rebuilt. Victims are still living in hotels or with friends or family. “I don’t think we’ve hit rock bottom yet,” said Joyce Oliver, 68. Deliberately set and fueled by winds and dry conditions, the blaze scorched 516 acres in a hillside neighborhood outside of downtown. It destroyed two churches, the community center and the library and damaged the Weed Elementary School and the town's sawmill, one of Siskiyou County's largest employers. In October, Weed police arrested local resident Ronald Beau Marshall, 24, on suspicion of starting the Boles fire. Prosecutors allege Marshall wanted to burn down the apartment complex where he lived, but the complex was spared. Marshall has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Many of the burned structures have been cleared since the fire, but rebuilding has proceeded far too slowly for many residents. “We only approved two houses,” said John Oliver, who has become a member of the local Planning Commission. “And the victims that are getting ready to rebuild seem to be going more toward manufactured homes.” Weed City Administrator Ron Stock said though only two building permits have been issued so far, he doesn’t think the city is the stumbling block. “I think the truth is that a lot of people are dealing with their insurance companies,” he said. Stock said the Weed City Council recently passed an exception to a state requirement that fire sprinklers be included in new construction. The council also simplified the permit process, waived all fees on churches and government buildings and could eliminate fees in hardship cases. Other fees have been reduced, he said. Stock said 13 of the homeowners didn’t have insurance to cover their losses. He said four buildings are in various stages of review, and he’s heard anecdotal reports that 65 homeowners are negotiating with contractors and architects to rebuild. “I imagine the big push would be in the spring,” he said. The slow pace of recovery hasn’t sat well in the town, even though many of the burned-out buildings have been razed. “Everybody’s a little frustrated,” Stock said. A new concern is recent heavy rains, which overwhelmed the city’s sewer system. He said workers were trying to figure out a way to divert storm water away from the system. “We had manhole covers lifting up from all the water,” he said. “We’re going to have some flooding in basements. When you take out 10,000 trees, the water table is going to rise.” So much water was flowing earlier this month that a section of Highway 97 was partially flooded, Stock said. “We have the potential with this much rain, that we could see some earth movement on the hillsides,” he said. Tristen Holden, family advocate at the Family & Community Resource Center of Weed, said that at the peak, 137 families were being helped and 120 families are still seeking continued services. “It certainly has been challenging for a lot of people,” she said. “Recovery doesn’t happen overnight.” Even the resource center’s program director, Kelsea Ochs, lost her home in the fire, Holden said. “She’s been working away since then,” Holden said. Holden said the resource center received some funding from the Shasta Regional Foundation, which has allowed the hiring of another caseworker. Once a week, long-term recovery meetings are held to help inform victims and the community and to listen to their concerns, Holden said. “Our goal is to work together as much as possible,” she said. “We want to create a connection with everybody.” Great Northern Services, a nonprofit community services organization, lost its building in the fire but is continuing to operate out of temporary quarters until it finds a new location. Audra Gibson, marketing manager for Great Northern Services and spokeswoman for the Weed Long Term Recovery Group, which is the main organization coordinating help for victims, said the relief phase will wrap up by year's end and the recovery phase then will be in full swing. She said the impact to Weed goes well beyond the acreage burned and the homes lost. “It’s not just the fire families,” she said. “We have to make a healthy community. How do we keep the community strong? How do we keep the stores open?” After the fire, asbestos and other toxic metals were found in the debris, and Gibson’s recovery group obtained state funding to remove the materials and about six inches of topsoil. In the process, all the survey markers were removed. Gibson said Crystal Geyser and money from a relief fund paid for a survey on all lots. “That was a big thing for the property owners,” she said. Gibson said the donations to the relief effort have been much appreciated, but at this point she said the victims and organizations that help them need cash more than anything. For information about helping families, go to https://weed.recovers.org/ . The magnitude of the devastation is hard for outsiders to fathom. On Thanksgiving, for example, 375 donated turkeys were handed out at the Mercantile Mall, but many of the recipients didn’t have an oven to cook them in — not to mention a turkey baster or other cooking utensils, Joyce Oliver said. The Olivers’ Mercantile Mall offers an emporium, soup kitchen and community center for not only fire victims as well as many other families in need. The Olivers hand out gifts for children, toiletries, clothing and other goods as families need them. “We’re helping a lot of people,” said John, 72. “When you’ve got to help, you just do it.” The Olivers had a rental near the fire, but only a fence burned down. “We lucked out,” John said. Shelley Scruggs, 25, her husband and two kids were asleep when the fire advanced on the home they rent. “When we saw the flames coming up over the wall, we thought everything was gone,” she said. Luckily the fire spared them, but the Scruggses are both unemployed, so they appreciate the support they get from the Olivers and the Mercantile Mall, she said. Alisa Cummings, principal of Weed Elementary, said the 248-student school has made adjustments as it awaits approval from the state of California to rebuild six rooms damaged by the fire that also surrounded the nearby high school. Cummings said her school has pulled together to help the community endure the loss and has received an outpouring of donations to help buy gifts for the students this holiday season. “One family is living with my secretary,” she said. “At first, she had three families living with her.” Cummings said her secretary is a private person who quietly has tried to help her friends and her community. “It’s a small town so everyone kind of knows everyone,” she said. “It’s been a difficult time in our little community, but we’re getting back on track.” Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected] . Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm . By Damian Mann Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Damian Mann Mail Tribune Posted Dec. 21, 2014 at 2:00 AM Updated Dec 21, 2014 at 11:01 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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