‘Resilient’: Estacada couple rebuilds after Riverside Fire

Lisa Balick

4 years ago

ESTACADA, Ore. (KOIN) — It’s a remarkable day for Peter Bush and Lisa Fuller. They’re seeing sweet dreams take shape in the sunshine, out from the shadow of the dark memories of the Riverside Fire.

They described that “horrible, horrible day” in September 2020 as “very armageddon-ish” as they saw “this raging cloud coming right at us.”

They were torn between flight or fight that day as the fire raced toward their Estacada home.

“I remember seeing the photos of the Paradise Fire and I was terrified. People trapped in their cars,” Fuller said. “I was horrified by those pictures. I did not want that happening to my family.”

They grabbed their cats and whatever they could, then sped off. The next day, Bush returned.

Their house and everything inside was demolished. The workshop where he built marimbas for school music programs was incinerated — along with the instruments and all his tools.

At least 53 homes in the Estacada-Molalla area plus 150 other structures were destroyed in the Riverside Fire. September 28, 2020 (KOIN)

Peter Bush and Lisa Fuller lost their Estacada home to the Riverside Fire, September 17, 2020 (KOIN)

Peter and Lisa Fuller lost their Estacada home to the Riverside Fire, September 17, 2020 (KOIN)

ESTACADA, OR – SEPTEMBER 14: Larry Weyand (L) hugs Darwin Seim in front of Weyand’s burned mobile home at the Clackamas River RV Park on September 14, 2020 in Estacada, Oregon. Multiple wildfires continued to burn in Oregon as thousands remained evacuated across the West. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Margi Wyatt reacts after returning to find her mobile home destroyed by wildfire as her husband Marcelino Maceda (background) searches in the ruins in Estacada, Oregon September 12, 2020. – US officials girded today for the possibility of mass fatalities from raging wildfires up and down the West Coast, as evacuees recounted the pain of leaving everything behind in the face of fast-moving flames. Dense smog from US wildfires that have burnt nearly five million acres and killed 27 people smothered the West Coast on September 12. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

Marcelino Maceda displays the remains of an elkhorn belt buckle as he looks for items in the remains of his mobile home after a wildfire swept through the R.V. park destroying multiple homes in Estacada, Oregon September 12, 2020. – US officials girded today for the possibility of mass fatalities from raging wildfires up and down the West Coast, as evacuees recounted the pain of leaving everything behind in the face of fast-moving flames. Dense smog from US wildfires that have burnt nearly five million acres and killed 27 people smothered the West Coast on September 12. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

Wildfire smoke obscures a road sign in Clackamas County, September 10, 2020 (KOIN)

ESTACADA, OR – SEPTEMBER 10: A sign warning of impending fire danger is posted on September 10, 2020 in Estacada, Oregon. Multiple wildfires grew by hundreds of thousands of acres Thursday, prompting large-scale evacuations throughout the state. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Lisa Fuller and Peter Bush are rebuilding their Estacada home after losing everything in the Riverside Fire, March 2021 (KOIN)

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Insurance helps pay for a temporary home rental and rebuilding. But the trauma is overwhelming.

“Grief is going to have its way with you. If I fight it, push it away or ignore it or I don’t allow it to be, it’s going to kick me harder later,” Fuller said.

She’s a former hospice nurse who wants others to understand healing will take time.

“Laughter, humor distraction. If I need to watch 3 romantic comedies in a row, I’m going to do that.”

The couple is restarting their businesses. Bush already has orders for when his new workshop takes shape. Fuller is tending plant starts on someone else’s property for now.

GoFundMe: Save the Rosebush Marimbas

Their hope is to move in by September — one year after their loss.

“The house is meant to be a stay-until-you’re-not-here-on-the-planet-anymore home,” she said.

They married just one week after the fire. Their house will be a place to celebrate.

“We’re resilient. This has tested us, for sure,” he said. “We’ve survived with flying colors.”