QuickTake:

After the 2020 blaze, Oregon state officials loosened rules so property owners can live in recreational vehicles on their land until they have new homes. Five years later, Lane County officials are asking the state to extend the rule before it expires in September.

Lane County commissioners will ask state officials for an extension of a rule that allows 2020 Holiday Farm Fire victims to continue living in recreational vehicles while they rebuild their homes. 

The move comes amid frustration about the long journey to fully recover from the devastating fire, with some property owners still looking for a path forward and living in RVs on their land. 

Lane County commissioners unanimously agreed Tuesday, Aug. 26, to ask the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission for a five-year extension to the rule, in place since October 2020, that allows property owners to live in RVs on their land while waiting for houses to be rebuilt. 

County officials plan to send a letter to the state commission.

“Nearly five years after the fire, many property owners have been able to rebuild their dwellings, but many have not,” a draft of the letter said. “If this RV provision were to end, many fire survivors in Lane County would have no access to secure housing.”

The Holiday Farm Fire burned more than 173,000 acres and 1,100 homes, businesses and other structures in the McKenzie River Valley, including in the communities of Blue River, Finn Rock, Vida and Nimrod.

Since then, property owners have faced challenges to rebuild, including rising costs, inadequate insurance settlements and delays for state grants. 

“Of those who have not yet rebuilt, some are waiting for state-issued grant funding to become available, and some are still uncertain about whether they will rebuild,” a memorandum to county officials said.

The state rule applies to the Holiday Farm Fire victims as well as other Oregonians who lost homes in the Labor Day fires of 2020, which included others throughout Oregon. 

In the aftermath of the fire, the county issued about 90 temporary RV permits. Since then, new buildings have sprung up on one-third of those properties. 

That leaves 60 permits for RV dwellings, though it’s uncertain exactly how many of those remain, because people can move off their property without notifying the county. But officials say the needs remain high.

“Many of those RVs are still in use,” Marianne Nolte, coordinated services supervisor for the county’s Land Management Division, told county commissioners. 

Lane County Commissioner Heather Buch, whose district includes the area burned by the Holiday Farm Fire, said the issue is urgent and needs attention so people can move on with their plans and finish building their homes.

Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.