The Hilt Community Center Fire
Stories & Photos
(Please allow time for all 23 photos to load)
On the
evening of Saturday, July 24th, the historic Hilt
Community Center was struck by lightning during
the storm that hit our area. Despite rapid initial attack
and interagency assistance, the structure could not be saved,
and burned to the ground.
Local Hilt resident
Tom Shorey lived in an apartment in the upstairs of the
Center. Shorey and his sons were away at the time of the
fire, and no one else was inside the structure, and nearby
neighbors were able to save most of his animals. However,
all of his, and his sons', belongings were lost in the blaze.
Nearby neighbor
Christina Lehman has set up a voluntary assistance fund
for the Shoreys, called The Tom Shorey Fund, through the
Bank of America, to help them through their loss. Anyone
wishing to contribute to the fund may do so at any Bank
of America branch.
The Shoreys will
also need some furniture, once they are able to relocate
to a residence of their own again. Christina asks that anyone
with items to donate please hold onto them for now, until
the Shoreys can find another place to live. Please let Christina
know what furniture you have, so she can coordinate such
donations, at (503) 475-0626.
(For further
information about this, see the news article, "Donations
sought for Hilt fire victim" below.)
Terry and Christina Lehman were within sight of
the Hilt Community Center when the July
25th lightning fire occurred.
Christina comments:
"I
think all of us down here in Hilt are still in shock. It
was horrible! We felt the lightning bolt hit, we knew it
was near to our house, we just couldn't find anything for
a few minutes. I wasn't looking at the houses , I was looking
in the hills. I could not believe what I saw when I turned
around and [saw] flames coming out of the side of the building.
All we could think about was getting his animals out.. [although]
I spent alot of time putting water on my house!"
"But
it was [T]erry [Lehman] and Kirby [Rooker] who got the [Shorey's]
animals out of the house. The dogs got scared and kept going
back into the building... There [were] double rainbows over
the building at one time. It was weird."
Photos:
Following
are photos taken by local resident Steve Meads, one of the
proprietors of what used to be the Stateline Store in Hilt. Steve took close
to 75 digital photos over the course of the fire; because
of file sizes, we can present only a limited selection here.
Many
thanks to Steve for his permission to publish his photos
on our site. All photos on this page are Copyrighted by
Steve Meads © 2004 with all rights reserved.
These
are in sequence, and represent the different stages of the
fire, from its visible beginnings that Saturday night, its
spread and peak as it engaged and engulfed the structure,
and the desolate morning after in broad daylight:
News Reports:
The Siskiyou Daily News in Yreka and the Ashland Daily Tidings
in Ashland carried several reports of this fire:
Lightning
takes Hilt treasure -
Hilt Community Center burns to the ground
(from the Ashland
Daily Tidings - Thursday, July 29th, 2004)
HILT, Calif.
- "Years of memories now lay in a charred mess of metal
and wood as Hilt residents, past and present, mourn the
loss of the Hilt Community Center. // The center burned
to the ground about 7 p.m. Saturday when it was struck by
lightning in this small town about a mile from the Oregon
border. // When lightning struck the building, flames quickly
raced through the structure, which was fully engulfed by
the time the Colestin Rural Fire Department and local residents
armed with hoses arrived. // ..."
300
flee Iron Gate fire
(from the Siskiyou
Daily News - Yreka, CA - Mon. July 26, 2004)
IRON GATE DAM
- Back-to-back lightning storms struck northern Siskiyou
County over the weekend, causing a number of wildland fires
in the area... Lightning strikes hit a number of other locations
throughout the Shasta Valley over the weekend including
Hilt... Firefighters responded to 15 fires
Saturday night and eight new fires on Sunday, all as a result
of lightning."
Lightning
fire destroys historic Hilt building
(from the Siskiyou
Daily News - Yreka, CA - Wed. July 28th, 2004)
HILT - One of
the last remaining historical structures in the town of
Hilt went up in smoke Saturday when lightning struck the
town's community center and within hours the building was
a complete loss. Colestin Rural Fire District Fire Chief
Steve Avgeris...
Donations
sought for Hilt fire victim
(from the Siskiyou
Daily News - Yreka, CA - Wed. July 28th, 2004)
HILT - The neighbors
of Tom Shorey of Hilt who lost everything in the fire that
destroyed the Hilt Community Center on Saturday are seeking
donations to help him with his loss. Neighbor Christy Lehman,
475-0626, said she opened the "Tom Shorey Fund"
...
Donations
sought for Hilt fire victim(updated)
(from the Siskiyou Daily News - Yreka, CA - Thurs. July
29th, 2004)
HILT - The neighbors
of Tom Shorey of Hilt who lost everything in the fire that
destroyed the Hilt Community Center on Saturday are seeking
donations to help him with his loss.
Hilt
bids farewell to landmark
(from the Mail Tribune - Medford, OR - Monday, August 2nd,
2004)
