July 29, 2004

Lightning takes Hilt treasure

Hilt Community Center burns to the ground

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.

Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings Nick Marin, left, and Jerry Lehman discuss the history of the former Hilt Community Center, destroyed by a lightning fire Saturday.

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.

* * * * *

Christy Lehman lives about a mile away from the community center and saw smoke and fire in the distance Saturday evening.

"I saw the fire and yelled at my husband, 'The center's on fire!'" she recalled. "When we got to the scene, there was like an eight-foot hole in the roof from the lightning strike, with flames and smoke coming out of it."

The 8,700-square-foot building off of Hilt Hungry Road was from 1947 to 1973 the hub of Hilt. The facility served as the town library, housed a soda fountain, community events such as birthdays and weddings, and a basketball court. The property was expanded in 1947 by Fruit Growers Supply Company, which owned the local mill from 1907 to 1973. Before that, it was the Diamond Saloon, which was built in the 1920s.

When the mill closed in 1973, many people left town, although the supply company still has about 25 workers who maintain private forest lands they own in the area, said Regional Manager Terry Salvestro. With a population of about 500 when the mill closed, today there are only about 150 people who live in the Hilt area, Lehman estimated.

After the community center closed in 1973, the space was used for storage for the supply company, with many local children using the gymnasium to play basketball or to skateboard. Many firefighters from Jackson County Fire District No. 5 in Talent would come and play hoops because one of the firefighters is a Hilt resident.

No more home

The blaze left Tom Shorey, a forester with the supply company, homeless. He lived in the only occupied apartment in the complex.

Shorey was on the California coast with his two teenage sons, Andy and Russ Shorey of Ashland, when he heard the news and rushed back to find he had no home left.

"When I heard what happened, I thought, 'Oh my gosh, are my dogs OK?'" he said. "They're like my family to me. I was overwhelmed with grief because I was sure everything would be gone when I got back."

Although all of his belongings were destroyed, including his boat, he was overjoyed to discover his five dogs had lived and were not injured.

Although they were trapped in the building, quick-thinking neighbors were able to get them out. Two of his cats were found, although a third remains missing.

On Wednesday, Shorey was still going though the debris, hoping to find salvageable items. All he found were a few mangled pans and the charred remains of his trombone.

"I'm just still numb and grief-stricken," he said as he stood in the middle of what was once his home. "There's just so many good memories here for me and so many others, and now, there's just memories. There's nothing left."

Shorey is living with his girlfriend in nearby Hornbook but hopes to eventually find a place in the Hilt area.

Many residents of Hilt are raising money to help Shorey find a place to rent in the Hilt area and to replace his items. He did not have renter's insurance. Lehman said she has already started a fund for him at the Bank of America in Ashland.

"I think that if it was us, I would hope there would be someone to help us out," she said. "It's the least all of us here can do."

Shorey is overwhelmed that his neighbors saved his dogs and are trying to raise money for him.

"I'm just really grateful," he said. "You don't really know who your friends are until something like this happens."

Salvestro said the company did not have an exact cost estimate for the building and its contents, but called it "substantial."

There are currently no plans to rebuild, he said.

Memories

Seeing the charred remains was quite painful for many former residents who visited the site Wednesday.

Nick Marin, 72, was born and raised in Hilt and now lives in Phoenix. His son a firefighter with Jackson County Fire District No. 5 and still lives there. Marin also worked at the mill until it closed.

"It was the heart, spirit and essence of Hilt," he said about the center. "It just makes me sick to see that the building I grew up with is gone."

Marin reminisced about meeting friends at the center after school, playing in the nearby meadows, or having a Pepsi at the soda fountain, or eating ice cream with friends that only cost a nickel.

It still boggles his mind to think lightning destroyed the community center.

"I've seen many of these lightning strikes hit trees before over the years," Marin said. "But why in the hell did it have to hit that building?"

Betty Fowler, who lives near Sacramento, was born and raised in Hilt. She was visiting her brother who lives in town and looked at what was left of the community center on Wednesday.

This was the place where she spent many hours with friends and had her wedding shower 37 years ago, she said.

"It's very hard for me to see that it's gone," Fowler said. "I grew up here and it was such a big part of the town. There are so many good memories here."