(Sisters businesses thank firefighters with signs around town, and free or discounted wares | Photos by T. Lee Brown)
Kids holler and laugh, jumping through the fountains in Fir Street Park. Crowds wait in line for pizza and vegan bowls at The Barn. Employees at Angeline’s hustle to fill orders for bagels and gluten-free pastries. Half a block away, traffic is tight on the main tourist drag, Cascade Avenue, also known as Highway 20.
Thirteen days after the Flat Fire started, there are few indications that a 23,000 acre wildfire has been burning just two miles from the town of Sisters. Many area residents who were evacuated have returned to their homes. [At the time of writing], the fire is over 81% contained.
A hand-drawn sign thanking firefighters adorns the Sisters Saloon. Two tourists stand at its door; they hadn’t heard about the fire before driving south from Bellingham, Washington.
Owner Aaron Okura says the restaurant and bar stayed open for normal business hours throughout the fire and only one employee faced evacuation. The saloon’s usual 10% discount for law enforcement and firefighters in uniform was in place, and firefighters were offered some extra treats.
“Things are fine now,” he says, “back to normal.”
Early on, smoke and fire caused difficulties for many businesses. Though tourists continued to clog up Cascade and saunter across streets in a haze of smoke, some avoided Sisters and many locals stayed home.
Farmers were hit hard, and Sisters Farmers Market was canceled (see related article this issue). The Native Bird Care facility and surrounding habitat acreage burned down.
Fika Sisters coffeehouse experienced a downturn; an employee described it as “naturally slow” given the smoke. Today, Fika is offering coffee free of charge, encouraging customers to donate to local first responders instead. Participation is enthusiastic.
Macon Luhnig, general manager of Sisters Bakery, reports a steady stream of customers throughout. “As a bakery, the things we produce here are actually good for the community during an intense time,” he says. “People are coming in to get some goodies to lift the spirits.”
Tourism seems strong in general, he believes. During the earlier, scarier days of the Flat Fire, “we had a lot of firefighters coming through, and we were offering our employee discount of 30% off for them.”
“The fire has of course it affected all of our business,” says Julie Rickards of The Open Door restaurant and Rickards Gallery. “Our biggest concern was many of our employees were evacuated. It was sad. But we didn’t close.”
She says that diners were grateful and service moved inside from the expansive patio. “It’s kind of the new normal; I think we’re acclimating to fires now,” she explains.
Coming at the end of a good season for this established local favorite, The Open Door isn’t too concerned about a dip in business. “We’re not worried about the food going bad,” she says. “We bring food over to the firehouse and we feed people who are evacuated. We’re grateful that the governor released resources so early; it was such a gift.”
At the Hub, co-working hours are offered on a pay-what-you-can donation basis. One public event presented by The Hub’s nonprofit parent organization, Citizens for Community, was canceled due to the fire. The Hub itself stayed open as “a place where evacuees and displaced folks, or just folks just looking for connection, could come work for free,” according to C4C executive director Kellen Klein.
So far, most of Sisters and nearby scenic areas have experienced lower AQI levels and fewer days of thick smoke than many summers. In the new normal of frequent wildfires, heavy smoke from farther away rolls into Sisters.
The culprit? Often it’s forest fires on the west side of the Cascades, such as 2020’s devastating Holiday Farm Fire along the McKenzie River. As dense stands of trees blaze, opaque gray smoke rides on western winds and gets socked in. The Air Quality Index has reached over 750 AQI, literally off the charts.
The Flat Fire, by contrast, is located to the east and north of town. It rushed through grasslands and canyons toward Sisters at first. Now the wind has changed direction many times; in town the AQI usually hovers in the 30–100 range.
From bakery manager Luhnig’s point of view, the fire caps a “really good” summer season. “I’ve seen the town be really busy all over, all summer long,” he says, “and that’s great.”
