News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Despite some concerns, business remained brisk during the Rooster Rock Fire.
The Rooster Rock Fire was generally easy on Sisters. Prevailing winds pushed the heavy smoke to the east, leaving pretty fair conditions in town even at the height of the blaze.
No campgrounds were closed and the tourism that provides the lifeblood of the local economy was generally unaffected.
Local merchants and lodgers had their worries, however, as news outlets from the Willamette Valley to the NBC "Today" show reported the fire - sometimes in rather dire terms.
Erin Borla, executive director of the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce, spent several days contacting media out of the area to get the word out that Sisters was open for business.
"It's always a fine line to walk," she said. "Because you want to be respectful of the people who have been forced to leave their homes and the firefighters on the line - but at the same time let people know that it's business as usual."
Borla sent out bulletins on various social media and did radio interviews with radio stations in "feeder markets" where many Sisters Country visitors reside.
When the Eugene Register-Guard ran a headline declaiming: "Residents flee Central Oregon inferno," Borla mobilized community leaders to contact the paper and let them know that the headline, in their view, hyped the fire situation - that though some families had evacuated, the community itself was in good shape and the fire, while serious, couldn't be classified as an "inferno."
The effort seemed to affect the tone of subsequent stories.
"They actually changed... their reporting style a little bit," Borla said. "Their headlines were a little less sensational."
Local businesses are especially sensitive to the potential economic impact of wildfire, having experienced so many in the past decade. Black Butte Ranch was hard-hit by evacuations in previous fires, not only disrupting residents but completely shutting down the lodging and recreation services upon which the Ranch depends.
The 2003 B&B Complex fire closed Highway 20 for several days, which was a crippling blow to many businesses that rely on the summer months to sustain them through the rest of the year.
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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