Within two to three hours, flames from Oregon wildfires swept through the communities of Phoenix and Talent, destroying much of the towns and leaving many of its primarily Latino residents homeless.
Jairo Gomez urged his wife and three children to leave their mobile home in Phoenix as billows of dark toxic smoke reached the front door. He stayed behind 10 minutes to gather documents but then a neighbor yelled that the fire was in his yard, according to the Washington Post. They raced through the burning mobile home park, dodging flames, burning ash and debris. Within five minutes, everything was destroyed.
Many of the 4,500 residents in Phoenix south of Medford emigrated from Mexico and settled in the Rogue Valley to pick pears and peaches in nearby orchards. Half of the students at Phoenix-Talent School District are Hispanic, the Post reported. Flames swept through and destroyed mobile home and RV parks where many multi-generational families lived as well as 50 businesses, including the town’s bank, barbershop, donut store, and Mexican restaurant La Tapatia.
Wildfires have destroyed more than a million acres in Oregon and claimed four lives.