Wildfire impacts ranchers: Wrights
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Lee Wright, center, shakes a neighbor's hand after they drop off a hay donation, as his daughter Kyla watches, at the Wright feedlot by Vale, Ore., July 31, 2024. The Wrights had a small stockpile of hay, but have also received donations from several neighbors after losing 20,000 acres of grazing land to the Durkee fire.
Anna Lueck / OPB
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Cattle belonging to a neighbor of Lee Wright's, left of fence, stand in a section of Wright's feedlot across the fence from Wright's own cattle. Wright says he and his neighbors worked together to dig fire lines and rescue each other's cattle. "There was no mine and yours out there," he says. "We all helped each other."
Anna Lueck / OPB
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Kyla Wright leans against a tower of hay donated to her family by neighbors. While the Wrights received donations from several neighbors after losing 20,000 acres of grazing land to the Durkee fire, they will still likely be forced to sell some of the cattle they can no longer afford to feed.
Anna Lueck / OPB
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A "thank you firefighters" sign outside of a house in Baker City, Ore., Jul 31, 2024. Baker City has served as a hub for firefighting efforts during the Badland Complex fires.
Anna Lueck / OPB
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Personnel tents set up behind Baker City High School, where personnel from the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 2 were brought in to fight the Badland Complex fires.
Anna Lueck / OPB
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Rolled-up firehoses in the staging area behind Baker City High School.
Anna Lueck / OPB
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A makeshift safety and operation center set up in Baker City High School.
Anna Lueck / OPB
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Public information officer Jeni Lawver explains a map showing various division jurisdictions in the Badland Complex, which includes the Thompson and Coyote fires.
Anna Lueck / OPB
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Firefighting equipment hangs above a "Volunteers Needed" sign at Payton Station, headquarters of the Baker Rural Fire Protection District, Baker City, Ore., Aug. 1, 2024. Baker Rural Fire Protection District is a volunteer department that sent crews to the Durkee, Thompson and other local fires throughout July. Chief Sean Lee says, "We're always stretched pretty thin, but this year has been so much more. Our yearly budget starts in July, and we ran out two weeks in."
Anna Lueck / OPB
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A sign warns of wildfire ahead on I-84 east near Durkee, Ore., July 31, 2024. The Durkee fire burned nearly 295,000 acres over the course of two weeks.
Anna Lueck / OPB
