“We're just surrounded with people who are really helpful."
Michele Victor awoke to a hurried knock on her door at 12:30 a.m. on September 8, 2020. It was her friend, Howard, who was fleeing the Holiday Farm Fire in his truck with his wife and what they could gather after receiving the "Level Three: Go Now" evacuation notice. Howard stopped on the road and wanted to make sure Victor got the word so she could get to safety.
"He ran over and banged on my patio door and made sure I was awake and knew that we to get out. So, so that was lucky," Victor recalls. "I really thought that I would be back in a day or two. So I really didn't aim at getting the things that... I probably would have if I had known, I wouldn't be coming back."
She happened to be pet-sitting for her son, and so in the frantically short amount of time she'd have to get out of harm's way, Victor tried to gather her family's seven cats and one ferret to safety.
"What I finally did is, I had a cat carrier. I ended up putting the ferret in that. And then putting one of the cats in there, and they were together and probably unhappy. And then, and then Jack, one of the kitties I was able to get in the car. And then I put Dutchess in the car, and I ended up getting Ralphie - my favorite kitty - into the car. But just as I got Ralphie there to the the car, Jack jumped out and scared Ralphie, and Ralphie ran away. And that was the last I ever saw of him.
"And so Puffin, Ralphie and Mobius... I ended up not being able to get them. They were frightened. They were gone."
Victor returned a few days later to discover her home had been destroyed. Her neighbors' homes were destroyed. The fire was so hot, it even destroyed her septic system under the ground.
"It's really, quite flabbergasting, some of the damage that some of the neighbors, you know, and that we have seen," said Ryan Edwards, Victor's son. "There's a neighbor down the road that is under the impression that the top portion of her soil, the top portion of the ground shifted because the rocks below the soil were so hot."
Neighbors put out food for the cats that were left behind, and a few weeks after the fire, they found Mobius.
"His mane was pretty much gone. He was a very long haired, you know, great kitty. You know, of course, really skittish. I mean, of course, anybody that had been through that would be. But we got him back," said Edwards.
"We got a wreck back. But he's still alive. My youngest son has an almost two-year-old year old now, in December. And they're very, very close friends," Victor added.
"I mean, yeah, you couldn't ask for a, a new human and an animal to be as close," Edwards agreed.
"The ferret ended up dying," Victor said.
"But he had a very, very, very long and happy life, for a ferret," Edwards assured.
Four years later, Victor is still working on rebuilding. She lives on her property along the McKenzie River and Bear Creek in a trailer. Wally, a Labrador-Poodle dog, is her companion and "early warning system." She is working with EWEB to get funding for her new septic system.
“We couldn't rebuild unless we had a viable, functioning septic system,” Victor said, sitting with Edwards outside of her trailer on the river.
Living next to the river and a creek, her new system was complex to install.
“I mean, we had 20, 21 people up here trying to figure out how to do it,” Edwards said. “They finally decided on anaerobic system with an air pump, and so, it's able to utilize an air pump to facilitate the breakdown rapidly compared to a traditional system which is sealed and anaerobic.”
Victor’s contractors installed multiple tanks, a sand filter, and an air pump to ensure the system would be able to rapidly process and break down bacteria.
“It cost at least $35,000 to put in that system. I don’t know how I would be able to rebuild and put in my house if it wasn’t for the support I received,” Victor said.
EWEB has allocated more than $1,300,000 to help McKenzie Valley homeowners repair or replace septic systems damaged in the Holiday Farm Fire as well as fix and replace septic systems throughout the McKenzie watershed.
The grants are available for properties within the Holiday Farm Fire footprint – as well as any property within the McKenzie Watershed, above EWEB’s drinking water intake at Hayden Bridge.
EWEB is able to offer these Septic System Repair and Replacement Grants thanks to a collaboration with Lane County and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Onsite Financial Aid Program (OSFAP). Both Lane County and DEQ OSFAP received ARPA funds and chose to partner with EWEB to distribute the money to affected residents.
EWEB has nearly $1 million remaining in its Septic System Repair and Replacement Grants program, however, and time is running out for McKenzie River residents to take advantage of this opportunity.
The American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds were originally set to expire by this month, but EWEB and partners managed to extend the deadline for allocating the funds.
“Too many Holiday Farm Fire survivors are still trying to rebuild their homes, so we’ve found it’s hard to get people to focus energy on their septic systems while they’re struggling to get a house to live in,” said EWEB Customer Programs Coordinator Misty Fisher.
To receive Septic System Grant funding through ARPA, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Applicant must be the current property owner.
- Septic system repairs or installation must be completed by the property owner or a Licensed Onsite System Installer, certified by the DEQ.
- Completed septic projects must be inspected by Lane County, with permit status listed as “final.”
EWEB encourages those with septic systems in need of repairs within the above eligible areas to complete the short application to see how much they could qualify to receive.
“At this point, we are encouraging everyone in the eligible areas to apply,” Fisher said. “Once you apply, we can match your request to the funds we have available. If we can’t match you with these grants, we can recommend other sources of funding and still help you along.”
EWEB has worked with McKenzie Valley residents for over a decade to incentivize responsible septic maintenance. For upriver homeowners who have entered into loan agreements with EWEB’s 0% Septic Infrastructure Loan Program, EWEB may deploy these grant funds to qualifying homeowners to pay off remaining loan balances where applicable.
Improperly maintained septic systems threaten the McKenzie River – the sole source of drinking water for nearly 200,000 people in the Eugene area. Septic systems that leak can contaminate the watershed with unsafe bacteria, provoke harmful algal blooms, and harm fish and wildlife.
"You know, at the end of the day, that is the absolute most important consideration: making sure that we can we can live with a minute amount of impact to our environment here," Edwards said. "What a gift. What a gift we've been given to to be here."
Victor hopes her neighbors take advantage of this opportunity before the grants expire. Despite the challenges she and her family have endured, she says the support she’s received has helped her remain optimistic.
“We're just surrounded with people who are really helpful – organizations and government and insurance companies,” she said. “I’ve met so many people who’ve helped me look at the positive side of things, and the joy of living up here.”
EWEB is currently accepting applications and has already matched dozens of people to funds.
To learn more about the Septic System Repair and Replacement Grants, interested landowners can go to eweb.org/septic, or call or email Misty Fisher at 541-685-7318, misty.fisher@eweb.org.
