“Our power went out at about 9pm, but that’s common here… it was no big deal,” recalled Bill Schaefers of the September 7, 2020 evening at his home on Oregon’s upper McKenzie River. “I should’ve listened to my daughter,” he said. Unlike Bill, his 20-year old daughter followed the Blue River Bulletin Board Facebook page that evening, and she had warned her parents about the local concern and conversation on social media about smoke and high winds in the forested area. The wildfire approaching that night would become a shared experience for people- both a nightmare and a beacon of hope- a reminder that despite the times, we are most certainly connected. Keep reading Kelly Moen’s article here.
