By JOY KINGSBURY/for The Herald — Kudos to Captain Aric Higdon and his crew of Oakridge firefighters, his cadre of volunteer cadets, along with three firefighters from Dexter, who altogether did a magnificent job of burning down the two-story farmhouse on the morning of Saturday, October 28th. The burning was on the property of Security 58 Storage, East of Oakridge on Highway 58.
The house stood on the property for sixty-eight years till last Saturday. It was a large two-story house that was home to the E.J. Spatz family for many years. It was a sturdy, well-built farmhouse with much living done there. Found in the walls were various photos and lists from bygone times and one very interesting poem etched on a thin stainless-steel plate by the renowned American writer, philosopher, and ecologist, Aldo Leopold, which reads:
“One hundred twenty acres, according to the County Clerk, is the extent of my worldly domain. But the County Clerk is a sleepy fellow….at daybreak I am the sole owner of all the acres I can walk over. It is not only the boundaries that disappear, but also the thought of being bounded.” Aldo Leopold.
Just above the fireplace in the living room is carved into the cement at the base of the chimney, the name Mike Spatz, 1950, and above that inscription were three children’s handprints. This still stands for the time being.
Prior to the big day, Aric Higdon explained to me that he was going to do the burn in such a fashion that the walls would fall into the interior of the home, rather than outward into the yard. In this way, the fire would be more easily contained, with less chance of spreading to adjacent buildings, or catching fire to any foliage around the perimeter.
To implement this burn, along came the Westfir Fire Engine, a water truck to dump gallons of water into a swimming pool type holding tank, a pump truck and what looked like miles of hoses. They did training exercises with the cadets on entering a burning building, manning the fire hoses, and dealing with smoke.
The winds were at our back and blew East, so we spectators had a marvelous unrestricted view of the burn in fresh air and sunshine, and got to see how it was managed from the beginning. It was a very interesting watch.
It was especially fun to see my great granddaughter, Evie Travis, there as one of the youthful cadets, and, another friend, Elijah Biggs, also a cadet.
Aric Higdon, let me tell you, did just what he said was going to happen! The walls fell inward. We ended up with one chimney standing in a pit full of ashes. I am very happy with the results, and, if you ever have a house that needs a good burning, I can recommend the Oakridge Fire Department most heartily.
Joy Kingsbury
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Joy, my cousin Linda Spatz and I were just in town and she showed me this house as their family home.
If there are any Momentos I can contact her. Thank you for the article 😔 Janis woodruff h