Homes lost at Black Butte Ranch

Sisters, 6:30 p.m. July 28 -- At least two homes have been lost at Black Butte Ranch, and the Ranch has been 80 percent evacuated. Two others thought to have been burning were saved.

The State Conflagration Act was invoked by the governor at 4:37 p.m. and as a result, firefighters and equipment were headed to Sisters from the Willamette Valley.

Those being evacuated are asked to check in with the Red Cross at 541-382-2142, even if they do not plan to stay at the shelter. This allows friends and family to be assured of the safety of those evacuated. Those needing information can use the same number.

According to one woman whose father, George Zamberlin, lives on Fiddleneck, "When our parents were evacuated, there was already one house burning."

It appears the houses that are burning are on Fiddleneck.

Both the woman and her father said the evacuation was confusing because they had been told to tune in to television Channel 3, but that station had the Ranch only on a Phase 2 precautionary status. She said they were never notified they were in Phase 3 evacuation status until police officers and firefighters came to the home told them to "get out."

George Zamberlin, is an 11-year homeowner at Black Butte, owning Golf Home 5 on Fiddleneck and Braken. Zamberlin spent the day doing "defensible space" work, or cleaning up combustibles such as pine needles, before being evacuated.

Dennis Monaghan from Lake Oswego was renting a home on the sixth hole of the Big Meadow golf course. Monaghan said he was watching a golfer putting when the golfer bent over and started pointing excitedly, then got in his golf cart with his partners and fled the course.

The golfer had apparently seen flames.

"It was nerve wracking, a little disconcerting," Monaghan said.

Jim Brown and his wife Carol live in Golf Home 103. "We were evacuated, they almost forced us out sooner than we were ready to go...fire retardant planes have been dropping retardant all over our area all morning long... since about 9 a.m. this morning," said Jim Brown.

"This last one was real close, it covered my pickup, covered us as we were taking stuff out to my pickup.

"We could see flames from the end of our driveway, still on forest service property... It was within 50 to 100 feet from BBR property."

Walt Bernard of Portland has a truck and boat at his house. He drove to Black Butte on Sunday with his wife to retrieve them and a couple other items, but was stopped at the road block at Indian Ford Road.

"Our house is just three houses from the gate," Bernard said "I wonder why the trucks are here today and not when they could have done something to stop this."

Others have said the Forest Service made a gigantic error in not fighting the fire at night over the last four days, but the agency has resources spread thin all over the western United States.