Resident escapes two fires

At the onset of the Eagle Creek fire a couple years back, she joined a few other helpers in the area who saw the need for streamlined information about wildfires in the area and joined as an admin for the Facebook page Columbia Gorge Wildland Fire and Info Page. So when the Mosier Creek Fire raged in her area, causing them and their surrounding neighbors to evacuate, she felt well prepared. The blaze was far enough away by the time she received the reports, giving them time enough to run through the evacuation checklist, load up the previously abandoned fawn, Thor, who they take care of, in the car and drive away. 

"Thor was calm ... I think he was getting a little freaked because of the activity, but I think he knew I was trying to protect him,” Dawn said.

Five days later, Dawn had been scanning through her list of resources on wildfires in the area when she read an unconfirmed report on a fire near Sevenmile Hill. She had to take a look outside.

“There I was ... all of a sudden you couldn’t see anything, the smoke was so bad,” Dawn recalled.

At that point she knew it would be her second time evacuating a wildfire in just a week.

Dawn said she probably only had about 10 minutes to water the deck, turn on the sprinklers, load up Thor and drive off.

“It was like, run as fast as we could.”

Dawn recalled that she and her husband would split up later on; Dawn had a friend who could keep Thor overnight.

“I love helping people. It’s quite a role reversal to accept help,” Dawn said.

Dawn said after the recent fires, she has noticed an uptick in fuel-reduction activity in the neighborhood.

“It’s had an immediate impact ... I think the lesson learned here is to prepare ahead of time.” Dawn cited the 10-30-100 rule and the Firewise program as specific resources for people in high-risk areas to review.

Everything turned out okay in the Rasmussen family, animals included. The structure was threatened but the fire did not reach the property. In a Facebook post on The Unedited Dalles Happenings, Dawn gave credit to the first responders, who took quick action to notify residents in such a quick amount of time.

“This neighbor-helping-neighbor is the good stuff that makes this a wonderful community. We have amazing people in this community, from people volunteering to help with moving people, animals, and belongings to offering their home for sanctuary, or the brave people rushing to the scene of the fire with what equipment or tools they have.”