Otis celebrates community, resilience 3 years after devastating fire

OTIS Ore. (KPTV) - The Echo Mountain Fire ripped through the small town of Otis three years ago. On Saturday, the community came together to look ahead to the future.

Dezarae Lawrence said it is hard to believe the how the fire flattened her Otis neighborhood.

“It was very scary being evacuated in the middle of the night, the glow of the fire, all the smoke,” Lawrence said. “Unfortunately for my family, we yeah, came home to ashes. Our whole loop actually, Ponytrail, was destroyed. There was not a house left.”

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Soon after the fire, Lawrence decided to step in and join the Cascade Relief Team to help her community bounce back.

CRT is a nonprofit made up of volunteers from Oregon who provide relief after natural disasters.

They hosted the first ever Otis Strong Day just a few days after the third anniversary of the fire, to bring survivors and the town together.

Marc Brooks is the executive director for CRT.

“We have a beer garden, and we have a band,” Brooks said. “We’ve got a little bit of everything. It started off as a rummage sale and then the community was amazing and they’re like we want to help, how can we pitch in? How can we help? They donated different gift baskets, different items to raffle off and it became something quite larger.”

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Not only did people enjoy food and each other’s company - but Otis Strong Day gave neighbors a chance to remember what they’ve gone through and look forward to the future.

Lawrence said the three-year anniversary was important to her and to the community.

“It represents how resilient all of the fire survivors and our supporting community of Otis, Lincoln City and the state of Oregon has been to us,” Lawrence said. “We wouldn’t have been able to be built back even a percentage of what we are now without Cascade Relief Team and the amazing people of Otis.”

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