In spite of a fire scarred view that has changed the landscape for years to come, life goes on for the residents of Stices Gulch nearly a year after wildfire disrupted their lives.

“Life isn’t going to stop. You take a deep breath and go on,” said Linda Rohwer who lives in the forested rural subdivision about 13 miles south of Baker City.

That disruption included over a week of being evacuated from their homes as the fire descended upon the area last August.

One resident’s memories from that devastation nearly a year ago have faded.

Maryanne Fuller, who lives with her mother on 17 acres at Stices Gulch, said “We’re getting back to normal.”

“(The fire) seems so long ago,” said the 20-year resident at Stices Gulch. “It’s like it never happened.”

But the view Fuller sees every day is a reminder of the devastation the fire caused as she talks about the changed landscape of hers and her neighbor’s properties.

“It’s very heartbreaking to see the trees all gone,” she said. “It was so green — so pretty. It’s like everything else. You get used to it.”

Rohwer has a slightly different take on the trees that are no longer part of the view from her house. A take that tries to see the positive in the wake of the fire that eventually covered 104,000 acres after joining with the Windy Ridge Fire.

“We can see the mountains now,” Rohwer said. “ I like seeing the mountains but I don’t like not having the trees.

Rohwer, Fuller and many of the other residents in the area sold salvage timber from their properties to Cameron Newell of B&C Logging.

Stumps and huge slashpiles all along Stices Gulch Road are evidence of the salvage logging operation.

Much of the blackened ground that was evident last fall has been replaced with a carpet of green grass and other vegetation that somewhat softens the look of the blackened and browned skeletal forest that occupies much of the area.

Rohwer and her partner, Bonnie Allen, are still removing burnt trees from their property — work they had hoped to not be doing that has taken up time that could have been devoted to other things.

“The fire has kept us from getting other projects accomplished around the property,” Rohwer said.

Rohwer and her partner moved to Baker City from the East Coast in 2013 then moved into their house at Stices Gulch a year later. They had only lived there for a year when wildfire threatened their new home on their 10-acre property. She said wildfires are not nearly as common where she’s from.

“We’re not used to forest fire,” Rohwer said.

Fuller and Rohwer were both lucky enough to not lose any structures during the fire unlike other landowners.

Fuller lost a wooden bridge and the deck it led to across the creek that runs through her property.

“It’s heartbreaking to think about everyone who lost buildings,” Fuller said.

The Cornet Fire tore through the gulch Aug. 13 late in the day and consumed one home and several other structures throughout the neighborhood.

Fuller’s neat and tidy property has several structures including two homes that have plenty of green lawn around them. That is likely why none of the buildings were lost. She said firefighters told her that her place was ideal to defend against wildfire.

“The firefighters don’t like the clutter,” Fuller said.

See more in the July 25, 2016 issue of the Baker City Herald.