October Cheers & Jeers

Cheers to the return of cooler, wetter weather. The sudden shift in weather last week provided some much-needed relief for firefighters battling the Nakia Creek Fire north of Camas-Washougal. The fire, which led to “go now” evacuation notices for thousands of Camas-Washougal households, but did not, thankfully, destroy any homes or take any lives, was already at 30% containment when the rains returned on Oct. 21, but fire officials said the forecasted rain would ease fire conditions and “offer relief to firefighters and residents alike.” 

Our second Cheers goes out to all of the people Mister Rogers’ mother would have called “the helpers” — the people who came to their friends’ and neighbors’ rescue last week, when the Nakia Creek wildfire exploded to 10 times its previous size and prompted evacuation notices throughout Camas-Washougal. In interviews with Nakia Creek Fire evacuees, there was one overarching theme that emerged — a deep gratitude for the community members who pitched in with trailers to evacuate goats, sheep and horses; who showed up at an evacuation shelter to see how they might help; who brought new pillows to the shelter so the evacuees might have a little more comfort during a stressful time; and who just decided to do whatever they could do to help their neighbors in need. As Mister Rogers’ mother famously told her young son when he would see scary things in the news: “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” Like Fred Rogers, we are also comforted to know there are so many helpers in the world, and give a heartfelt Cheers to all of those caring people who came out during the Nakia Creek Fire to help the Camas-Washougal community.