Fire Touches TD Resident with Family in Estacada
Lindsay and Ryan LeBreton with their three children
By Haley Mast
Lindsay LeBreton is a long-time resident of The Dalles where she lives with her husband Ryan and is raising her family. But she grew up in the small town of Estacada where her parents, John and Debby Kling still reside. The ongoing heartbreak of the Oregon wildfires has recently made way into her hometown of Estacada. CCC News spoke with Lindsey regarding her family’s struggle to leave behind their home and flee to safety.
Before the Notice
Lindsay’s grandparents, David and Pattie Effenberger, with Linday’s daughter Zoe.
The Kling’s had their trailer packed, ready to leave for a camping vacation before they knew the fire would soon encroach on their town. The morning before their trip they went to pick up David Effenberger, Lindsay’s grandfather, from his esophagus surgery. Shortly after dropping David off at him and his wife Patti’s house in Clackamas, the Klings got a call. The fire was creeping up on the town of Estacada, quickly. The Kling’s called Lindsay and told her the horrible news. “I felt hopeless being so far away” Lindsay described.
Lindsay’s Parents John and Debbie Kling, with Lindsay’s daughter Bailey who plays on George Fox University’s volleyball team.
Panic Set In
The road from Clackamas to Estacada is about 15 miles, and for the Kling’s it was 15 miles of fear and emotions. As they got closer to Estacada, the sky quickly changed. “It went from clear blue to plumes of black smoke” the Kling’s described to Lindsay. Not much evacuation notice was given to the Klings or other residents of Estacada. “All of a sudden they were at a level 3 [evacuation],” Lindsay said. Arriving at their home in Estacada the Klings had already had items packed to go camping, so they hooked their trailer to their vehicle and gathered cherishables- such as family photos. The Klings made sure close neighbors were safe and found them packing to leave before they left their own home and community behind. They drove north through thick smoke on their way to Washington where they planned to camp. Lindsay's aunt, Kathy Parrish, picked up the Effenbergers at their home in Clackamas in case the fire made way toward them. Kathy lives in Clackamas also, just above the evacuation level two area. Kathy brought the Effenbergers back to The Dalles and put them up in a furnished rental that Lindsay owns. There, the family shared a meal.
“Having a family meal together was really comforting in these times of sadness” Lindsay said.
Due to health and safety reasons, Lindsay took the Effenbergers back to their home in Clackamas. “our concern with COVID and them being fragile with their health, and we as a family of five are way more exposed to the public than they are “ Lindsay Said. Also the air quality - due to smoke - in The Dalles became significantly worse than in Clackamas.
The Kling’s kayaking with Lindsay’s son Hunter on the Clackamas River. near the location where the fire jumped the river and came about 1/2 a mile from Estacada.
The Heroes of Estacada
Many members of the Estacada community stayed behind to fight the fire. They are not firefighters. They are landowners who stayed up all night cutting trees, using tanker trucks, and digging trenches in hopes of putting a stop to the flames. Lindsay said she had many friends involved. “Grandparents would take the grandchildren to safety,” she said, while parents chose to stay back to defend their town from the fire. Many people own Christmas tree farms in Estacada, and they were cutting down their own trees in hope of not adding fuel to the fire.
Outcome so far
The Klings and many of Lindsay’s friends have made it out of Estacada to safety, although the status of their town’s infrastructure and homes is unsure at this point. Lindsay said she has had one friend whose home has burned down in Colton, a neighboring town of Estacada. Thankfully the residents of the home got out safely. Lindsay’s communication with her parents has been limited since friends and family from all over have been reaching out to them in concern. Both the Klings and Lindsay have been waiting to find out if everybody is okay. “We’ve been looking for all the information we can find on the community,” she said.
The Kling’s and their neighbors parked outside of a church in Boring during the evacuation.
Coming Back Stronger, Together
Lindsay hopes the community will rebuild better and stronger. “I am hoping it will bring new life to our community.”
Estacada is a town with a lot of forest service and timber industry folk. Going forward it is hopeful that they work together in proper forestry management, she said. “Proper forest harvesting should be done efficiently so we can learn from this” Lindsay said as she expressed her sadness for the community of Estacada.
Firefighters and residents of Estacada have fought valiantly fighting the flames of the Riverside Fire during the past week to save their town. Contributed Photo -City of Estacada
