News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Most of the former Silver Spur Motel at the west end of Sisters burned to the ground Saturday, October 25, and everybody from the property owners to the firefighters on the scene were happy about it.
That's because the property owners, Richard and Eleanor Davis, got the lot mostly cleared for easier sale, and local fire departments were able to provide priceless realistic training for their firefighters.
The controlled fire capped over two months of practice drills conducted in the motel buildings.
According to Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District Chief Don Mouser, the Davis' approached him with the idea of burning down the buildings. Mouser agreed on the condition that local firefighters would be able to use the building for several months for training.
Mouser said that firefighters from Sisters, Cloverdale and Black Butte Ranch repeateadly conducted ladder drills and entry and extrication drills in the buildings in the two months preceding Saturday's grand finale.
Five Sisters firefighters used the opportunity to pursue qualification as fire captains, Mouser reported. They ran the drills and conducted Saturday's fiery exercise.
The fire drill provided several new volunteers with the practical experience required for basic firefighter certification.
Everything went off without a hitch.
"The weather cooperated," Mouser said. "We had a nice hot fire and it went straight up in the air and dissipated."
Hot it certainly was. Spectators a hundred feet back from the blaze could feel the fire's scorching blast.
"Imagine being in there with the linoleum bubbling up under your feet," Cloverdale firefighter Michael Yeargain said.
The firefighters burned down most of the motel and the old red building fronting the McKenzie Highway. Mouser said they left the easternmost part of the motel complex standing because the captains were concerned about burning by a nearby propane tank and the gas tanks at Space Age Gas.
Mouser said a contractor would have to demolish the rest of the structure.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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