‘A huge difference’: Volunteers mobilise in Oregon fire aftermath

Portland, United States – Hunter Bombadier has spent the better part of the past year protesting for an end to police violence and anti-Black racism – and supporting communities hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. That is how the 33-year-old member of Symbiosis, a network of left-wing organisations across the United States, was ready to help when massive wildfires broke out south of Portland, Oregon, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes. “We were able to use the programming and infrastructure we already had,” Bombadier told Al Jazeera in a recent phone interview. The group had a system in place to provide needed supplies to communities affected by COVID-19, Bombadier explained, and had created relationships with other activist organisations to coordinate their efforts. The groups use multiple supply drop-off sites throughout the state, often in public parks or parking lots, and coordinate their efforts through a central hub staffed by volunteers. Those volunteers work every day, often late into the night, receiving and distributing donated supplies in coordination with people in areas affected by the wildfires. A destroyed fire station is seen after a wildfire came through the area in Blue River, Oregon, U.S. September 23, 2020. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart (Reuters) “We believe in the strength of our communities,” Bombadier said. Displaced families When the wildfires escalated in Oregon in early September, Portland had seen more than 100 days of protests against police violence. The “Antifa” movement had been blamed by US President Donald Trump for the protests and when the fires erupted, conspiracy theories spread about left-wing activists’ supposedly starting them. Local officials and the FBI debunked those theories. In fact, the very same groups that had been vilified by Trump and other right-wing leaders during the past several months were leading relief for those affected by the fires. “[We] believe in a more just and generous world, and we are trying to live that,” said Stella Fiore, a member of a collective known as The Witches, which formed in support of the local protests. The group is now primarily bringing supplies like N95 masks to homeless encampments around Portland. Close to a million acres (about 404,700 hectares) have burned in multiple fires around the state, on the US west coast, which left Portland temporarily with the worst air quality in the world. Many displaced people are facing additional health risks due to the smoke caused by the blazes. The director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management, Andrew Phelps, said more than 3,000 people were in need of shelter support as of September 16. “Most Oregonians know someone who was directly impacted by these fires. They lost a home or had a home damaged or, in some cases, lost a family member,” Phelps told Al Jazeera. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">