Back in business, two years on

Sep. 5—Two years and one day after the Almeda Fire, Phoenix Sigalove and Lichen Richardson will start something new by returning to the heart of their former business.

On Sept. 9, they will offer a re-imagined version of the menu for their food truck, Daddy Ramen, which was destroyed along with their Phoenix home in the Sept. 8, 2020, fire that forever changed the Rogue Valley.

The ramen this time will come with sake, and be served as part of a live music supper club in Talent, something Sigalove referred to as an old-timey idea.

The evolution suits the business, Vintage Coffee House, located at 250 E. Wagner St., Talent. The coffee shop is a living room-sized time capsule of mid-century style, with a wall dedicated to vintage carafes, mismatched yet harmonious vintage chairs and eclectic light fixtures.

On Sept. 8, 2020, Sigalove and Richardson evacuated their family only as an extreme precaution. They didn't believe the fire would move through Talent much less into the center of Phoenix where they lived. They escaped to a hotel in Grants Pass, bringing with them only overnight bags.

"It dawned on me as we were evacuating, we had the dog, we had the kids, we had each other, and I thought worst case scenario — what could I not live without? And I thought, nothing," Sigalove said.

It was around midnight he said, that they learned through a friend on social media that everything was gone.

"Our entire cul-de-sac went up at once. Fire rained down from the sky and lit all the roofs on fire, and within a very short time it was all reduced to five inches of ash," he said.

When the house went up, the food truck — parked right outside — burned too.

Tammy Sona, owner of Sona CBD in Talent, lost her business and home in the fire, as well.

Sona described two years of conflicted feelings — caught between survivors guilt and a need to grieve or ask for help.

"How can I set up a Gofundme account? How can I ask for help and support when we've got children that don't have a roof over their head?" she said.

The Almeda Fire destroyed roughly 2,500 homes, including apartments and manufactured homes, along with 173 commercial buildings.

In Phoenix, 41 non-residential structures were lost, said Joe Slaughter, Phoenix Community & Economic Development Director said. The tally includes public buildings, such as the dormitory portion of the Fire District 5 station, and a number of small businesses.

In Talent, 61 commercial buildings burned, said Kristen Maze, community development director for the city.

Sigalove and Richardson said they took inspiration in resilience from their four children.

After the kids learned what the fire had done, they cried for an hour, Sigalove said, then turned their focus to the pool in the hotel and an ice cream parlor down the street.

"Here are these kids who just lost their house 12 hours prior, we're all laughing and smiling and loving each other," he said.

Sigalove experienced the same disappointment repeated by many Almeda fire survivors — his insurance policy refused to cover what he'd lost.

Sona was able to get a percentage of the value of her store's merchandise very quickly. she said, but the full amount her policy should have covered never came through.

For Sigalove and his family, a friend set up a Gofundme account.

"We got the same amount of coverage through this Gofundme as we had asked for from our insurance company," he said.

Sigalove was able to replace the food truck, but Daddy Ramen did not return. The city was still recovering, he said, and the food truck requires round-the-clock cooking to make 18-hour ramen broth by night and staff the truck by day.

The couple decided to wait, and take time to care for each other. He worked odd jobs to support the family during this time.

In Phoenix, small businesses are coming back slowly, and each in its own way, Slaughter explained. Phoenix Self Storage, Palm Harbor Homes and Superior Carpet have rebuilt their burned buildings.

Puck's Donuts is still rebuilding. Blue Heron RV has a permit to build in the space formally occupied by Dun Rov'n RV Park and Frontier Lodge.

Some spaces will hold something completely new to Phoenix, Slaughter said, such as Black Bird Shopping Center coming to the former site of the Trading Post.

A small commercial center that was located behind Jack in the Box on Main Street has just been approved for 84 residential units.

In Talent, only 11 permits have been issued so far for new buildings, Maze said.

Sona moved into the Rogue Valley Mall for a while after the fire, expanding her offerings beyond CBD to handmade gifts. She says she reinvented her business during this time, a process she has continued in her new space at 316 E. Main St., in Talent.

"I was really shocked to come back and realize, wow, we've lost a third of our population here. The majority of my (previous regular) customers — I've never heard from them again," she said.

The black fire scar across the street and the loneliness of COVID-19 lockdowns inspired her to invite other small businesses into her parking lot for pop-ups. Sona remembered fondly when Wizard's Way Farm would come, bringing bouquets of flowers to brighten the burn scar.

Though she describes her return as successful, Sona said recovery is still largely an uphill climb for her and businesses like hers.

"We can't keep our noses above the water line," Sona said. "You keep investing, thinking we've just survived this, it can't get any worse, things are going to turn around. And the next thing you know, we've got another global event, a war in Ukraine, rising gas prices, cost of food."

For Sigalove, recovery was spurred by a surprise offer from Sumesh Bakshi, co-owner of the restaurant Gather.

"We want you to be our neighbor," Bakshi said, and offered Sigalove the historic building next to Gather to make whatever business he wanted out of it. The only stipulation, Sigalove explained, was that the business include coffee, something Bakshi felt was a community need.

"The space was a blank canvas. Everything you can imagine running into in a renovation, we had it. The one saving grace was the roof was air tight," Sigalove said.

He and his family were able to remodel the space in a little over four months. They started with coffee and added food offerings slowly, responding to the confines of the space and the shrunken size of the customer base in Talent.

Live music on weekend mornings has been successful, he said, making the space feel like a community hub.

To provide ramen for his evolving live music supper club, Sigalove will use his food truck to overcome the lack of kitchen space in the small building.

Staffing shortages and supply chain issues make things a little complicated, he said, so they'll move slowly and let community response dictate their plans.

Richardson will soon have to give up working the espresso machine, because she is glowing with the pregnancy of the couple's next child.

"It's been a very difficult, very powerful, wonderful time in many ways," Sigalove said.

As Richardson expressed gratitude last week for the generosity of the community — and their recognition that many others have not been able to recover — a man walked into the Vintage Coffee House carrying an enormous stockpot.

Sigalove introduced the man as Brent Brakebill, owner of Greenleaf Restaurant in Ashland.

The two men had been talking on the phone earlier, Sigalove said, and he had mentioned that supply chain issues meant he would be waiting weeks for a stock pot, complicating ramen production for his grand reopening next week.

Breakbill told his friend to hold on.

"I'll be right over," he said.

Reach Mail Tribune reporter Morgan Rothborne at mrothborne@rosebudmedia.com or 541-776-4487. Follow her on Twitter @MRothborne.