THE DALLES, Ore. — Three homes in The Dalles burned to the ground Wednesday night, after they were engulfed by the Mile Post 87 Fire along the Columbia River Gorge.
One of the victims is 60-year-old Dave Dixon.
“Devastation,” Dixon said. “That’s pretty much what it is.”
On Thursday morning Dixon began sifting through the remains of his home of seven years.
“I lost everything,” Dixon said.
Dixon is a disabled former military member. He said in 1985 he got frostbite on his hands and feet while training in New Jersey. He said he lost function of much of his feet.
When the fire hit his mobile home, Dixon said he was talking to a neighbor outside. He sprinted inside and grabbed his 15-year-old blind and deaf dog. He didn’t have time to take anything else.
Seconds after he sprinted away from the home, the trailer was engulfed in flames, Dixon said.
“I’m wearing what I got on right now. That’s all I got.”
He isn’t the only person who lost everything. Dixon’s next-door neighbor also lost their mobile home in the fire.
Up the ridge from the RV park where Dixon lives, a home overlooking the Columbia River was destroyed.
On Thursday firefighters were nearby, spraying water on ground that was still smoldering. Some trees continued to smoke from the fire.
As of 11:40 Thursday morning, Wasco County officials said the fire is 40% contained. All level 3 evacuations have been lowered to level 2 status, urging people to “Get Ready” to evacuate.
But Dixon said first responders arrived too late to save his home Wednesday.
Thursday, he sifted through ruined family pictures, fishing rod and his melted keys, to find anything worth salvaging.
“That was my house,” Dixon said. “And I don’t have a house, I don’t know what to do, I don't have any money. I mean I’m on minimum income through the VA.”
Dixon said he didn’t have insurance on the home, and only has $20 to his name.
On Wednesday night he slept in a motel. But that’s a temporary solution.
“It’s kind of up in the air since hotels are expensive here,” Chelsea Downey, Dixon’s niece said.
If you’d like to help Dixon, you can visit his gofundme page.