For Mike and Colleen Walker, their weekend camping trip was already a bit of a test as they dipped their toes into rekindling a marriage of 22 years. A fast-moving wildfire certainly didn’t make things any easier.

After more than two decades together, the Walkers divorced two years ago. But they recently started talking on the phone again and decided they wanted to meet up and see if they could give it another try.

So Mike traveled from his home in the Vancouver, Wash., area and Colleen drove from Rigby, Idaho, for a weekend in the Bully Creek Reservoir area in East Oregon.

From their campsite, the Walkers could see smoke from the Cow Valley Fire in the distance, but it seemed far enough off that they weren’t overly concerned. But after they had settled in for a good night’s sleep that all changed suddenly.

“A lady came driving through the campground at 12:30 in the morning yelling ‘it’s time to leave. The fire’s right over the hill’,” Mike said.

“It was very unsettling,” Colleen said.

So they packed up and made their way to Ontario, Ore., as they contemplated their next move. They had their three dogs with them, which made finding a hotel difficult. And at this point, it was after 1:30 in the morning.

Mike pulled his pickup equipped with a tent camper on top into a truck stop parking lot, and once again they set up and settled in for the night.

The next morning, with temperatures already surpassing 100 degrees, Colleen and Mike headed to a city park to take their dogs for a walk and a swim as they decided what to do next. That’s when they struck up a conversation with some fishermen who told them about the Red Cross evacuation shelter at the county fairgrounds in Ontario.

“We thought, ‘Well that sounds a heck of a lot better than a rest area’ so we pulled over there,” said Mike, who turns 65 next month.

There, a Red Cross team welcomed them with open arms.

“The people were super nice,” Mike said. “They’re giving us water, they’re feeding us. It was air-conditioned and cool. It was wonderful because outside was just miserable with the heat and the smoke.”  

“It was such a relief,” Colleen said. "Going into that air conditioning was like ‘Oh my goodness.’ For the first time we could finally sit down and relax.”

The Red Cross team also welcomed in the Walkers’ four-legged companions – Genoa, Levi and Tilly Jane. Several kennels in a corner of the shelter gave pets a safe place to stay as well.

“As soon as we pulled up there, they’re like get your dogs and bring them in,” Mike said. “I was very thankful, and the dogs were very thankful laying there on the cool floor.  It was a great relief for them, too.

“Of course, you worry about your pets. They’re part of the family.”

During her 30-year career with Hewlett Packard, Colleen had volunteered with Red Cross several times, helping organize blood drives with the company. But she had never been on the receiving end of Red Cross services, until now.

“They had everything we could need or want and everyone was so accommodating,” Colleen said. “What a relief. It saved our weekend.”

The Walkers spent a little over 24 hours at the shelter before heading their separate ways. But now Mike is in Rigby with Colleen. And all is going well.

“We’ve come together again so easily,” Colleen said.

And after witnessing the generosity of Red Cross volunteers, now they’re more inspired than ever to give back to their community.

“It makes me want to go out and help more now because we’re not poor, we’re not suffering but they didn’t care,” he said. “They were just here to help us. I wish more of the world was that way.”

DISASTER RELIEF

Since early July, Red Cross volunteers and its partners have provided 114 overnight shelter stays and 350 meals to those in East Oregon forced to evacuate because of wildfires.

Each year, the Red Cross of Idaho, Montana and East Oregon responds to hundreds of disasters and could use your help. Support these efforts by making a financial gift or by raising your hand to become a disaster volunteer. Learn more at redcross.org/Idaho or call 800-RED-CROSS.