Faith & Fire
Mike Murphy climbs a burned tree on his property along the McKenzie River in Blue River, Oregon to perform a high stump cut on Feb. 4, 2021. Murphy has been working for local debris removal company ALL-GTMH since the company was formed last November by his friends Geff Gravitt and Mike Miller. All three are members of the Living Water Family Fellowship and lost their homes in the fire.
Tiffany Lemmerz (center) and her friend Hannah look over the remains of what was once Lemmerz’s home in Blue River, Oregon on April 18, 2021. Lemmerz’s daughter and niece, both 6, and her sister where here the night of the fire and barely made it out alive.
A drone shot from an altitude of 300 feet high above the McKenzie River near mile marker 50 on OR-126 highway in Blue River, Oregon on May 8. 2021. The Holiday Farm Fire started from Holiday Farm RV resort at mile marker 47. Living Water Family Fellowship is located at mile marker 42.
Living Water Family Fellowship’s sign as seen heading west on OR-126 highway in Blue River, Oregon on May 9, 2021. The Conex structure behind the sign was delivered this week and will serve as the Living Water’s chapel until the new church is built.
Pastor Doug Farrington closes out the Sunday service at McKenzie Bible Fellowship in Leaburg, Oregon before the church band plays one last song on April 25, 2021. McKenzie Bible Fellowship has been the temporary church home for Farrington since their church burned down in the Holiday Farm Fire.
Pastor Doug Farrington (left) and Pastor Dick Roberts of McKenzie Bible Fellowship with his wife Christine say goodbye to the Rochelle and Beau Johnson and their children April 4, 2021, after the Easter Sunday service in Leaburg, Ore.
Pastor Doug Farrington (right) enjoys some ice cream after having dinner with his two children, their spouses and his grandchildren at Farrington’s RV home in Blue River, Oregon on March 27, 2021. The RV is currently home to Farrington and his wife Sheri (center – green shirt) as they rebuild their home and church.
Geff Gravitt (left), Jay Peppard and Mike Miller enjoy some Voodoo donuts and beer on a Fridat after work in Nimrod, Oregon on Janaury 22, 2021. Gravitt and Miller are the owners of the local debris removal company ALL-GTMH and Peppard is their highest paid full-time employee. All three attend Living Water Family Fellowship Church.
Mike Miller of ALL-GTMH Debris Removal holds two quarters he pulled from the debris of his destroyed home along the McKenzie River in Blue River, Oregon on Jan. 22, 2021.
Mike Murphy of ALL-GTMH Debris Removal looks down to his co-workers from about 50 feet high after wrapping a steel cable around a hazardous tree for removal in Blue River, Oregon on Feb. 19, 2021. ALL-GTMH has volunteered their services on several occasions to help clear hazardous trees in Blue River. “It really helps to be a part of something that isn’t just about me,” Murphy said. “I’ll eventually get to my own home but right now this is more important.”
Jason Peppard takes a moment to inspect a chair he just craved out of a tree stump using a chainsaw in Blue River, Oregon as his dog Barry sits close by on Feb. 27, 2021.
Mike Murphy and Jason Peppard of ALL-GTMH Debris Removal saw branches off a felled hazardous tree in Blue River, Oregon on Feb. 19, 2021. Every structure in what makes of the center of the unincorporated township of Blue River was destroyed by Holiday Farm Fire.
Local volunteers organized by Pastor Doug Farrington assemble a Sheds of Hope shed for Blue River resident Alice Bonasio near the charred remains of what was once her home in Blue River, Oregon on Jan. 28, 2021. Sheds of Hope is an initiative of the One Hope Network, which is a non-profit comprised of pastors, churches and community leaders in the Eugene/Springfield, Oregon area.
“McKenzie Strong” written over a smiley face on a large stump near Living Water Family Fellowship Church in Blue River on May 9, 2021. This short phrase became the unofficial motto of the recovery effort among the McKenzie River Valley community.
In 2020 Oregon experienced one of the most destructive and far-reaching wildfire seasons on record. Multiple wildfires burned simultaneously across a million plus acres of land, destroying over 4,000 homes in their wakes. One of the largest of these wildfires was the Holiday Farm Fire in Lane County.
The Holiday Farm Fire drew its first breath around 8:30 p.m. on Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2020, after a series of strong wings tore through McKenzie River Valley causing a tree to fall on some power lines near the Holiday Farm RV Resort in Blue River, Ore. What followed was a prodigious blaze that spread over 173,000 acres of woodland, destroying 463 homes before reaching a containment level of 96% on October 29, 2020. Thousands of people were displaced, including Pastor Doug Farrington of Living Water Family Fellowship and the several members of his congregation.
The wildfire destroyed Farrington’s home, his church, and homes of 20 of the 22 families that comprise his flock. Many of these people lost everything they own, and this loss has taken a toll on Farrington and his congregation, but they are determined to rebuild their church and many church members plan to rebuild their homes.
Living Water Family Fellowship has already raised over $300,000 through charitable donations to help start the rebuild process of their church and to provide displaced people in their congregation and community with temporary housing while they rebuild their homes. Living Water and the entire McKenzie River Valley corridor still has long road to recovery ahead them, but their faith has been literally tested by fire and they are still standing strong. Hopefully they will remain to strong in the aftermath of this tragic natural disaster.