Remembering Oregon's Labor Day fires, 5 years later
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Labor Day 2020, and the days that followed, were some of the most difficult in Portland's recent history, with wildfires, nightly protests and pandemic lockdowns all weighing heavily on the city.
The big picture: Instead of citing facts and figures about what happened when firestorms blew up in the state five years ago, we wanted to hear from you, our readers, about what that dark time meant in your lives.
What you're saying: Liz F. was working in the COVID-19 unit at the Portland VA, with large windows overlooking the city.
- "I was so tired. I would look outside at all the smoke and feel like the world was ending. I wanted to cry. The smoke kind of looked like fog or rain clouds. I would imagine it was winter rain and I would briefly feel soothed and cozy."
For Jennifer C., the fires seemed like the culmination of what had been building all year.
- "COVID seemed to open the door to so much tragedy that summer: George Floyd's death, the hurricane in the Gulf, the locusts in East Africa and, of course, the ever-present haze. That haze felt like the physical manifestation of what we were all feeling. We were lost, suffocated and unable to see through to the other side. It was the first time my husband and I ever put a suitcase and pet carriers by the door."
For many, the blanket of smoke that lingered over the city felt surreal.
- "The sky was an ugly, unnatural color," Amy C. told us. "You couldn't go outside, but if you did, visibility was through a thick haze of smoke. The smell of smoke invaded our home. The news of death and destruction was overwhelming. Pile all that on top of the pandemic. It was like living in a Twilight Zone episode."
But while the smoke and the protests and the virus all took a massive toll on Portland and its residents, the city was spared the physical destruction the fires wrought on so much of the state.
- "We were lucky," said Jennifer G. "So many weren't."