I realized the other day that I have given short shrift to Phoenix. So, I made a point going there intentionally to take pictures and not just driving through today. I think most of us in the Rogue Valley have seen the iconic photos of Puck’s donuts and the Phoenix Motel. The stark contrast of the colorful sign in front of Puck’s and the burned-out building and the umbrella by the swimming pool at the motel are quite striking.
In fact, the damage in the downtown area where these businesses were located was quite spotty. A building here and there burned but once again I was surprised to see how many were left standing. It was the north side of town that bore the brunt of the devastation, along with the Bear Lake Estates east of town which was a high-end 55+ mobile home village. Nearly 150 homes were lost in that development alone.
I could not get a good angle on the Phoenix Plaza, a shopping mall of sorts which always seemed to have a few vacancies. But here is what’s left of my favorite Thai restaurant, just across the highway from there. 
The Jack-in-the-Box in front of it was spared but the two square blocks of townhouse apartments behind are gone. Going north on 99 several mobile home
parks on both sides of the highway were wiped out along with the Umpqua Bank (whose vault is notably intact), the Harley Davidson dealership, some storage units and my State Farm Insurance agent’s office. I’m just so grateful they were able to save the Genealogy Library, not much further up the road.
Chain link fences are being built around many of the damaged or destroyed properties. Signs are also popping up all over offering to buy lots, perform
excavation and rebuild homes. But so too are signs just saying Hope, saying Phoenix strong, and we will rise from the ashes. The toxic waste cleanup is set to begin next week. The thing I hear mentioned most often to be removed are propane tanks. Looks like they will have easy pickin’s here at the Dun-Rov-N RV park.
