Five years after the Holiday Farm Fire, its burn scar beyond the buildings on the McKenzie School District campus serves as a reminder of the natural disaster that shaped the community.
In September 2020, the district, which includes McKenzie Elementary School and McKenzie Middle/High School buildings, was spared as the fire destroyed much of the surrounding structures in the McKenzie River Valley.
Since then, the district has been a pillar in the community, even beyond being the area's largest employer. Its buildings became an essential gathering place for all those in Blue River and neighboring towns. But the community is still rebuilding and so is the district. Student enrollment dropped 25% after the fire and is still 11% below what it was.
"The fire is such a marker," said Kelly Shaw, licensed professional counselor at McKenzie through a partnership with regional health care system PeaceHealth. "There's before the fire and after the fire.
"But I think, to some degree, we get kind of tired of talking about it."
Counseling students through grief after the fire
Shaw was born and raised in the McKenzie River Valley, being the second generation in her family to graduate from McKenzie Middle/High School.
Shaw was supposed to start working at the district on the first day of school in 2020.
The Holiday Farm Fire erupted the night before.
When the fire started, she had been monitoring communications, checking Facebook for updates. She lived in a house in Vida with her mother and aunt. Shaw remembered relaxing on the creek in her backyard that day and being under a fire weather watch advisory.
"Then the smoke came in, that was from another fire," Shaw said. "I remember it being very still and very quiet. There were no birds, there was no wind, and that was a weird and eerie feeling."
When the Holiday Farm Fire started, it was 27 miles from Shaw. She figured she was safe in Vida. Later in the night, under a level 2 "be set" evacuation order, she was helping her aunt and mother into the car when she heard the sheriff issue a level 3 "go now" order.
"It was hard to really believe that it was happening," Shaw said. "I just wanted to go home, and so that's a weird feeling to just want to go home and you can't."
Shaw's home was spared, despite four of her nearby neighbors losing their houses.
After the fire, the COVID-19 pandemic was still a factor as distance learning was still in effect. McKenzie didn't fully return to the classroom until March 2021, but there was limited return in December 2020. McKenzie was granted a special exception to support students in distance learning, as many students lost access to internet and were unable to access their classes.
Now, Shaw helps students work through the trauma and emotions, largely through play and art with younger kids and conversation with the older kids. Most of the time, her counseling sessions don't revolve around the fire specifically.
"People may think that we sit around and talk about the fire and really, it comes up, but I don't put attention on that," Shaw said. "I want it to be organic and come up for them. They might be more worried about their friend being mean to them at recess today than the fire."
Shaw said because life keeps happening after a disastrous event such as the Holiday Farm Fire, it can be difficult for people, especially young people, to begin that healing process and confront their emotional response from the night of the fire.
"There's just going to always be a place where there's grief," Shaw said. "To have a fire scar, it doesn't come back quickly. I think there's going to be some grief that lingers. There can be a lot of healing, and there can be a lot of sadness at the same time."
Coming together as a community beyond the Holiday Farm Fire
Computer science teacher Corey Culp has been at McKenzie for 17 years. Culp, who lives in Vida, also had to evacuate on a moment's notice.
Similarly to Shaw, his house was miraculously spared after weeks of uncertainty. Nearly every day, Culp visited the relief centers where students and their families were staying in the days and weeks after the fire.
Culp said the mood was somber at the relief centers. He said the most common topic was wondering whose houses had been burned down or not.
"We were all hurting," Culp said. "It all happened so fast too. It was just survival for everybody."
It's been three years since Culp last spoke with The Register-Guard. He said in that time, the community has grown even closer, with McKenzie at its core.
Culp said before the fire, the community was already close, but there were many he didn't know because of the spread-out nature of rural towns.
After the fire, there has been more connection.
He said people seem more quick to help one another. The school district in particular has been a central part in that community building, serving as an event space and relief center.
"If the school would have went up, I just don't know," Culp said. "I don't know what would have happened, if we would have rebuilt the school and if this community would still exist … it would have just been so hard to recover."
McKenzie is the largest employer in the area. Culp said the school means a lot to the community, both as a current service and as a symbol of the community's resilience.
Enrollment on the rise for McKenzie schools
Despite rebuilding efforts, there are still barriers for housing, which has a direct impact on the district's enrollment.
While neighborhoods are rebuilding and community staples like the general store are preparing to open, there are still families that live in RVs.
Culp said the rebuild and insurance claim process has been varied from family to family. Some fully rebuilt their homes in a year, while others are just starting construction five years later.
McKenzie's enrollment was approximately 225 students in 2019-20, according to Superintendent Lane Tompkins. After the fire, enrollment dropped to 168.
While enrollment has gone up again — Tompkins estimated 200 students this fall — it's still 11% below its peak.
For some families, the effort to stay in the region was taking too much time and cost too much money.
Tompkins said there are still new families being welcomed into the district, a testament to its community outreach efforts.
In spring 2023, the district launched its McKenzie Little Eagles Preschool & Childcare Center with the help of a grant from Lane County.
Additionally, Shaw's role as a counselor and therapist has served the broader community well, and she offers support when she can. She is fully compensated through PeaceHealth, which means her services have no cost to the district.
"We're trying to find ways to serve the community beyond just the usual K-12 education model," Tompkins said. "Hopefully it'll translate into more people staying around because they have the support that they need."
Enrollment is critical for districts, as it serves as a major funding calculator for state dollars. Tompkins noted that this past school year saw the end of wildfire support funding for the schools.
Tompkins said those funds will cover costs through this year.
"We'll see a lot of that impacting the budget next year, so it's our hope if we can get another 15 or 20 kids," Tompkins said.
One way McKenzie is trying to bolster enrollment is through the district's online school, UpRiver ONLINE.
Although still serving a small cohort of a dozen students, UpRiver ONLINE teacher Maricel Teague is optimistic that the program will serve the community well. This year, UpRiver ONLINE is available to K-8, expanding beyond the high school classes previously offered.
"It's another way to keep kids in this district and support this district as they continue to evolve," Teague said. "I'm just constantly amazed by how we're adapting and education is really changing."
This is Teague's first year leading the online school, but she has been working as a substitute at McKenzie since spring 2024.
She recalled driving up Highway 126 for the first time since the fire and was struck by the devastation.
Shortly after that drive, Teague decided to work at the district, feeling drawn to the community.
"This is a different landscape than it was before," Teague said. "To see that as you drive up is one thing, but then to see it in the way it manifests itself in the communities, the schools and the way that it's brought them together, it's profound."
Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on X @mirandabcyr.
