Volunteer inspired by B&B Fire

Camp Sherman resident Lyle Miller clearly remembers the day when the B&B Fire forced him - and the rest of Camp Sherman - to evacuate the community:

"All I could see in my rear-view mirror was red from the glow of the fire."

Since then he's been working to make sure he never has to see that view again.

Last Saturday, he was out working with Oregon Youth Challenge cadets to reduce future fire danger in the woods around Camp Sherman (see story, page 3).

"For me, this is the culmination of what the B&B Fire did to me," Miller said. "When you have to leave your home and don't know if you'll ever see it again, that's pretty terrifying. When we were spared, I told myself that I'm going to do everything I can to make a difference."

That's when Miller committed to some serious volunteering.

"When we had to evacuate, I wanted to stay and help, but they told me I didn't have the training," he said. "Now I do."

Miller has since become a trained volunteer firefighter with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District.

His volunteer work with Oregon Youth Challenge is a natural outgrowth of that interest. In fact, when Youth Challenge Community Service Coordinator, Ken Olsen, was asked how the recent Camp Sherman project was initiated, he pointed and said, "Lyle Miller...over there in the red hard hat...put a grant together to get it started."

"Getting that grant was the direct result of attending those community meetings after the B&B Fire," Miller said.

After learning about the availability of grants for fire suppression through fuels reduction projects, Miller attended a grant writing session and submitted a request for $50,000.

"There was a lot of competition that year, and I got turned down," he said. "A year later, they said more funds were available, so I tried again."

That time, he came away with a $55,000 grant for a fuels reduction project at Camp Sherman.

Representing the U.S. Forest Service, Dave Moyer selected a forest treatment site that would benefit forest health and the safety of Camp Sherman residents. Moyer explained that Miller's grant money is being used to fund the actual on-site cutting work performed by Oregon Department of Forestry personnel and other costs associated with managing the project.

One such cost is refueling the van that brings the Youth Challenge workers to Camp Sherman. Such projects are considered a public service, and Youth Challenge does not charge for work performed. Here again, it was Miller who recruited Youth Challenge for the project. He was familiar with their organization through previous volunteer work with the program.

Miller is sold on the idea that proper forest management is the key to reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire.

"What we learned from the B&B Fire is that when the flames hit properly managed land, it took the fire out of the tree tops and put it on the ground where it could be fought," he said.

As an example, Miller cited where the B&B Fire hit well-managed and thinned private land upwind of Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery.

"They were able to control the fire at that point, and that's the only reason we still have a hatchery there now," he said.

Since then, Miller has made it his mission to fulfill the vow he made to himself "to make a difference." He hasn't been content to just organize and write grants. He takes the responsibility seriously and works hard to stay fit, not only to serve as a firefighter but also to work hard in the woods alongside kids who are less than a third of his age.

When he's not fighting fires or volunteering in the community, Miller runs an "exit planning" business out of his home in Camp Sherman. He specializes in helping baby boomers develop strategies to exit the business world to pursue new life interests. Learn more about him at http://www.lyle-miller.com.