By Michael O’Donnell
Idaho State Journal
BLACKFOOT, Idaho — An army of goodwill ascended the black and gray hillsides left the by the June 28 Charlotte Fire. The dots of bright yellow from their vests colored the dark scenery of Saturday morning’s massive relief effort. With them came the blessings of cooler temperatures and an overcast sky.
The majority wore vests with “Mormon Helping Hands” imprinted on the front and back, but volunteers of all faiths joined a cleanup event that brought 2,000 sets of hands, and dozens of trucks, backhoes, chain saws and trailers to the devastation that claimed 66 homes southwest of Pocatello.
“The Lord was watching over us,” Ray Smith said about the weather. His blackened face, arms and hands matched those of his teenaged grandson, Logan. They had driven down from Blackfoot to join the massive volunteer effort organized by the LDS church.
“People needed the help,” Logan said. “The waiting in line was worse than the working.”
The Blackfoot pair were taking a quick lunch break on the tailgate of the grandfather’s pickup after returning from a long trip to the Bannock County landfill. Before the day ended the landfill would receive 400 tons of refuse from the fire area. Both sides of Autumn Lane — one on the most heavily damaged areas in the fire -- were lined with vehicles. The hills were alive with working volunteers.
The same scene was replicated on all the roads that connected the devastation in the Mink Creek and Gibson Jack areas. Volunteers were working from the base of Bannock Highway all the way to the firebreaks where the blaze was contained.
Regional public affairs officer for the LDS Church Larry Fisher was busy answering questions as vehicles stopped on their journey up and down Autumn Lane.
“This has been amazing,” Fisher said.
Saturday’s flurry of activity began early when volunteers and impacted landowners met in the parking lot of Century High School. Fisher said a call from LDS Church leaders to the 19 stakes in the region drew people and equipment from American Falls, Arimo, Blackfoot, Aberdeen , Pocatello and Chubbuck.
Fisher said the volunteers were organized into five-member teams. When the morning cleanup assignments were made, 57 of the affected Charlotte Fire property owners had signed up for help. Each landowner could specify any projects they needed assistance tackling and the size of the task was matched to a number of teams. With 1,598 volunteers signed up to help and many more showing up without prior notice, Fisher said he had more than enough able-bodied workers for the cleanup.
“For today we had as many volunteers as we could handle,” he said.
Future cleanup efforts will take place and Fisher said people can sign up using the Internet to become part of the volunteer pool. The website to register as a volunteer is: seidahovolunteer. org. Visitors to the site can find postings for specific volunteer efforts involving the Charlotte Fire area through August. There is also information about making donations to the Red Cross.
Fisher said the effort that took place Saturday was matched only by the 1998 flooding along the Snake River in the Blackfoot area.
In addition to acknowledging the huge response of individual volunteers, Fisher gave credit to local government entities for all their help.
“The county has been amazing to work with,” Fisher said. Free passes to the landfill were issued to all landowners and shared with the volunteers who hauled debris from their property.
The Idaho Division of Environmental Quality made sure all volunteer teams had information sheets to assist them on the best removal techniques for damaged trees to minimize the obvious issues with erosion the area will face when wet weather arrives.
Although a Friday night drizzle had knocked down some of the dust, volunteer Ray Smith was still amazed at how dry the soil was.
“That dirt is light and dry,” he said.
Near a burned-out foundation further up the hill, another group of volunteers from the Blackfoot area was taking a water break. Like everyone else on the hill, Andrew Baldwin and Jim St. John had soot on their faces and their hands, arms and clothing were smeared in black.
It was the first time either of them had seen the devastation.
“I don’t know where you would start,” St. John said about the monumental task landowners now face. “I think it’s overwhelming. They’ve got a lot of work ahead of them.”
“It was an unbelievable job the firefighters did,” Baldwin said. “How did they get these people evacuated?”
Blackfoot High School counselor Debra Hamilton was a part of their team and she was stunned by the losses people have to accept.
“Just the idea there’s no retrieving anything that was in that house is too much,” she said. Healing will take some time, not only for the land but for the people , according to the counselor.
Hamilton took a long look at an ash-filled basement at the bottom of the hill and said, “At least they know people care.”
Copyright 2012 Idaho State Journal