Full Steamboat Ahead
Photo by JD Elegance
A treasured landmark along the North Umpqua, Steamboat Inn begins the recovery process after the Archie Creek Fire.
Story by Taylor Perse
In there three years as owners of Steamboat Inn, Melinda and Travis Woodward have seen reservations curtailed because of wildfire smoke and global pandemic.
But the Archie Creek Fire was something else altogether.
Last September’s wildfire, one of Douglas County’s worst ever, started along the North Umpqua River then spread through the forests along Oregon Highway 138. The flames threatened to engulf everything in their path, including buildings along the river, and in many cases did.
The historic inn was spared, but not untouched. The fire caused thousands of dollars in damage, but it also inspired the Woodwards to rebuild and keep the business going.
“We actually got a call that the firefighters had to abandon the structures and that the lodge probably wouldn’t be there in the morning.”
— Melinda Woodward
“We did not think Steamboat would survive,” says Melinda Woodward. “We actually got a call that the firefighters had to abandon the structures and that the lodge probably wouldn’t be there in the morning. Luckily, it was.”
Built in 1957, Steamboat Inn is a familiar cornerstone of the Umpqua region, situated next to the river near a bend in the highway. With rooms and cabins surrounded by lush forests — and right out back, the rippling river — the inn offers a weekend escape or a stop on the way through to somewhere else.
On Sept. 8, the first day of the fire, Melinda woke at 5 a.m. to get her daughter ready for school and found the power was out. She glanced outside and downriver. The sky glowed an ominous orange, and Woodward knew immediately that a fire was close.
She and Travis awakened the guests and onsite staff and told them they needed to leave immediately. They then took off for Bend, arranging to stay with family and, on the way, just missed the Thielsen fire that started later that morning.
“We just had to leave and hope for the best,” Melinda says.
For Amanda Watts, a Steamboat employee off and on since 1995 and a permanent part of the staff since 2014, the inn is a second home. Watts remembers a few wildfires getting close to the inn, but not reaching the building as Archie Creek did.
“This blew up fast, and we had the east winds,” Watts says. “None of the other fires have ever gotten that close.”
The devastating fires are long extinguished but Steamboat Inn isn’t yet out of the woods. The 64-year-old building is intact, but flames narrowly missed a few buildings. One has water damage from firefighting, and a tree across the river fell, pulling out all of the plumbing from the front building.
The worst damage was to the inn’s water and septic system, connected to a spring across the road. As it tore through, the fire ruptured water lines and destroyed a 55,000-gallon holding tank.
“Unfortunately, insurance is not covering the in-ground pipes, which had the most damage,” Melinda says. Recent septic repairs, however, were expected to facilitate a partial reopening in March with the Woodwards hoping they are fully open again in June.
“We have a lot to do in order to get up and running,” Watts says. “There’s definitely been progress, but we don’t know the extent of the damage after we turn everything on.”
The uncertainty over Steamboat Inn’s future has inspired expressions of concern from former guests and from community members, who regard the inn on the river as a local landmark.
“We have felt a lot of love and support from the community,” says Melinda. “Many people have come by and been relieved to see the inn still standing. We have received hundreds of emails from people all over the world so happy that the inn survived.”
Watts says people have faith in the Woodwards’ ability to restore the inn. “I knew once the inn was left standing Melinda and Travis would get it going,” she says. “They put their heart and soul and their whole life — everything — into this.”
