Fire gives little time for family in fiery exit
The Hart family is finding resilience after the four-generation family lost most of their possessions in the Mosier Creek Fire last week.
By Tom Peterson
Joel Hart immediately knew it was strange - the smell of smoke in August on the family homestead three miles south of Mosier.
It was a Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020, and the tiny-home builder said the smell got his back up.
“I was thinking, ‘man, who is burning this time of year. They can’t be burning?’”
Hart looked over the edge of the property from his parents house down toward Mosier Creek.
“I saw smoke burning down the hillside.”
Hart climbed up a ladder and onto his parents roof to get a better look. “By the time I got up there, it was huge. It was a freight train. I knew we had to get off the property as soon as possible.”
“I ran inside and told my dad we’ve got to go right now. He said, ‘I’ll throw the sprinkler on it.’ I told him, ‘Dad, it’s not that type of fire.’”
His father, Jesse, his mom, Sue, his 88-year-old grandmother Maria were in his parent’s house.
His wife, Jennifer was in their nearby tiny house.
His sister, July and her four children were just outside. She had two vintage trailers on the family property, some 20 acres.
“My grandma has a cane and a walker. She did not grab either one,” Joel said. “She had some adrenaline going. She beat my mom out of the house.”
Joel’s mom, Sue, had recently broken her foot and it took her a bit longer to get into the vehicle.
“I ran over and told my wife ‘don’t freak out but we need to get out right now.’”
Joel looked around the house. He did not grab his wedding ring or his wallet. He grabbed his wife’s medication. The Wy’East Middle School teacher was recovering from a recent surgery on her right arm. Their seven dogs all made it into the vehicles.
His sister July, told Joel they needed their small travel trailer. The Jayco camper trailer was somewhere to stay. Joel agreed and they took the extra minutes to hitch it.
Joel told his parents to wait for them in the nearby plowed field while they coupled the camper.
The sun blotted out with smoke. The sky turned black, Joel said. “Flickers of orange were all around us.”
“It was weird,” he said. “The fire started to hit my parents house, and it went dead quiet. It was like the quiet before it hit.”
“It was sunny and it all turned dark, and we drove off and down the driveway around the corner to a high spot. They looked back “and saw the whole entire property on fire.”
“We all got out of there. You cannot ask for a better outcome.”
When they returned the next day, nothing was spared but the pickle ball court.
Joel’s shop, two tiny houses, two trailers and his parents' home were destroyed.
The intense heat of the fire cracked and shattered foundations. End wrenches in the shop were melted.
“There was nothing left” Joel said.
Nothing but the pickleball paddles.
On that Thursday, with the ashes of all their worldly belongings surrounding them, the family picked those paddles up.
“We played a couple of games with the whole family,” he said. “Me and my brother-in-law, dad and nephews. Even my mom with her boot in her wheelchair played. We we’re hitting balls to her, and she was getting better.”
“We got a good core, and we will get through this,” Joel said.
The Hart and Maus families did not have fire insurance and Jesse Hart’s life insurance will cover only some of the items in his home.
Gofundme accounts for the Joel and Jennifer and an account for July and Jeremy Maus are linked below:
Burned foundations were all that remained after the Mosier Creek Fire swept over the Hart Property at 1811 Carroll Road.
