Two years later, Almeda Fire victims are still recovering

Sep. 10—"It was an amazing wind that morning," Sam Altunel, co-owner of Sultan's Delight food truck, said Saturday as he remembered the Almeda Fire that roared through the southern Rogue Valley on Sept. 8, 2020.

He was at the Ashland Grower's Market that day when he heard the sirens and was told there was a fire. He thought it would be a little fire. But soon, he and his sons were driving the family's food trucks to safety.

On Saturday at the Talent Commemorative Fair, an event providing resources for survivors of the fire, Altunel manned the food truck with his wife and business partner, June Altunel, the two working together with a smoothness that comes from 15 years in business together.

Hungry families lined up eagerly at the bright yellow truck, exchanging blue paper tickets for burgers and chips, while an enticing array of Turkish food awaited other customers.

Rogue Food Unites is reimbursing Sultan's Delight, June explained, for feeding the fire survivors at the fair. Altunel credited the nonprofit for the survival of businesses like her own over the past two tumultuous years.

"A lot of the restaurants would not have made it without their help," Altunel said.

Amber Ferguson, one of several people who founded Rogue Food Unites, said she and the other co-founders of the nonprofit wanted to show up after the fire and help. They devised a two-birds-with-one-stone solution — raise money, and give the money to local farms and restaurants to help them feed fire survivors. Local business got a drip feed of support, and survivors didn't go hungry.

Two years on, this kind of help still is needed. Ferguson staffed a table at the fair with other volunteers as she explained how Rogue Food Unites now offer a solidarity card — a card that comes loaded with a set amount available to be spent at a list of participating restaurants and grocery stores stretching from Ashland to Roseburg.

Stretching across the lawn in front of Talent City Hall to an alley and down toward the neighboring street, staff and volunteers from a legion of agencies were armed with free snacks, business cards, fliers and pamphlets for the many still in need.

Rosario Medina and Katie McCormick, sitting on the other side of the lawn from Rogue Food Unites, explained how they have each overcome their own trials after the Almeda Fire.

Medina's family was temporarily displaced — her trailer park was one of the few in Talent to escape the fire, she explained. Through family connections, she and her extended family spent their time as evacuees at a ranch and resort in the Applegate Valley.

While she and the other adults struggled with insurance companies and future worries, the kids reveled in the farm animals, the joys of nature and family.

"The kids still say, do you remember that time we were all together, with the animals?" Medina said.

McCormick's family was temporarily displaced by thousands of dollars of smoke damage, she said. They spent several weeks at the only place available to them — a pink Victorian bed and breakfast in Ashland.

"My husband was doing Zoom classes for his middle school kids, and they're like 'Where are you?' and he had to say — 'Ignore the lace curtains,'" McCormick said.

Now, both women have moved on from their teaching careers to staff a new flagship effort funded by the state of Oregon — the Community Care Program of Phoenix-Talent schools, a program designed to take the confusion out of accessing resources for teachers, parents and students struggling with lingering upheaval.

Many of their students still need help with basic needs, Medina said, like security in food, shelter or gathering the right school supplies.

Some of them are finally back in school with their friends, but these little survivors are waking up before dawn for a two-hour bus ride to get there from the various corners of the valley where families have resettled, McCormick said.

Lucas Wedeman, event organizer for the fair, moved like a honey bee between volunteers giving out food or brochures, making sure they took their breaks. He asked fire survivors with a handshake or a hug if they had been fed or picked up supplies.

When asked if fire survivors had been able, in general, to rebuild their lives, Wedeman was blunt.

"To be honest, no." he said.

Of the many families he has worked with over the past two years, he explained, many of them are no longer scared and desperate, but many still are living in FEMA trailers and converted hotel rooms.

"I'm tired of half-wins. I want full wins," he said.

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