Busy fire start has Madras merchants wary about summer
We’re only five days into summer, and already Jefferson County has seen its fair share of fire. In fact, fire district crews were called to four fires in 36 hours.
Joe Krenowicz is the executive director for the Madras Chamber of Commerce. With a big summer tourism season expected, he’s worried about what’s to come.
“This is the largest number of fires we’ve seen in a very short time,” Krenowicz said Monday. “Our biggest concern is fire starting this early in the season, and we haven’t even gotten to our main events.”
A few of those main events include this upcoming Fourth of July weekend, the Madras Airport’s annual Airshow of the Cascades Aug. 25-26 — and of course, just before that, the once-in-a-lifetime Aug. 21 total solar eclipse.
So, it’s no surprise that some business owners are concerned.
Sarah Gannon, the owner of Opal Day Spa in Madras, is one of them.
“Some people do have allergies and they’re allergic to smoke, so when they’re driving through town, they may not stop,” Gannon said.
“So for the community, fire isn’t very good, because they’re going to drive on through to the next community to do whatever they want,” she added.
Others aren’t worried at all, including Garry Boyd, the owner of Great Earth Natural Foods and Deli.
“I’m not worried,” he said. “Fire season is what it is in Central Oregon, and I have complete confidence in the people fighting them and taking care and making sure property and live are not damaged and saved.”
Even with a positive attitude, if the fires keep up, smoke could influence outdoor activities and tourism Krenowicz said.
“At this point in time it’s not affecting the tourism,” he said. “It can, if we have a change in weather and the smoke starts settling and not moving. Right now, the air is quite still, so it can be concerning if it continues in the next couple days.”
Traffic was briefly stopped on Highway 26 early late Sunday and Monday morning because of the major Warm Springs fire, but it did not appear to affect traffic in Madras.
Many people in town, including Boyd, seem to have the attitude that there’s only so much you can control, when it comes to things like wildfire and the tourism influx.
“So I hope everyone is ready,” he said. “I know everyone is going to do the best they can. There’s just a lot of unknowns that we can’t predict. So we’re just going to be happy, put a smile on our face and we’re going to represent.”
