Emerging from the smoke
<p>Resident and visitors of the Bayview area gather for the barbecue lunch in Bayview Tuesday afternoon. The community is now settling back into the area as the Cape Horn Fire dies down.</p>
<p>Volunteer Steve Gregory barbecues hot dogs for Bayview residents as the smoke of the Cape Horn Fire settles Tuesday in Bayview. Millers Harvest Foods of Spirit Lake and Sunwood's Cowboy Bar-B-Q have teamed up to provide the cookout for those affected by the fire.</p>
BAYVIEW - Bayview-area residents and businesses are reaching out - and shouting out - as the Cape Horn wildfire becomes more contained.
A free barbecue for residents and responders was held in the Lake Pend Oreille community on Tuesday as it unravels from the stress and devastation from the blaze.
"It's good to be back home," said Ron Bollinger, who evacuated Bayview last week with the RV he and his wife, Kathy, own.
"The community has come together to support each other and help the people who need help."
Across the street from the barbecue, at the Bayview Mercantile, clerk Ann Gasper said the mercantile wants the public to know that Bayview has returned to normalcy as far as being open for business and recreation.
She said there's still a perception that people can't come to Bayview to enjoy the summer due to the fire.
"We need people to come to Bayview," she said. "We had a great Fourth, then everything went to hell."
Gasper said last weekend, typically one of the busiest of the summer, turned out to be a flop as far as business goes.
"We had one truck and one trailer outside (the business) last weekend when normally you can't find a place to park," she said. "We're hoping to recover this weekend. There's no reason not to be here. We want to get back to being a tourist town."
The mercantile never closed during the fire, but visitors and some of the general public weren't allowed into the town until Thursday night.
Jim Sharp, from Arlington, Texas, stayed at Farragut State Park on Monday and Tuesday nights. He said he's glad he missed the fire evacuations and didn't have to re-arrange his travel plans on the way to Canada.
"I'm happy that they opened it up because it's a beautiful park," he said.
Several attendees of the barbecue, which was put on courtesy of Miller's Harvest Foods in Spirit Lake and Sunwood's Cowboy Bar-B-Q owned by Ron and Sherrie Dayton, said they are thankful for firefighters for limiting the damage.
"They did a fantastic job of keeping the fire out of Bayview," Bollinger said. "It's unfortunate that homes were lost, but it could have been much worse."
Cape Horn Road remains closed, except to residents who live in that area and companies doing business there.
Lester Russell postponed his concrete job at a cabin on Cape Horn due to the fire, but worked at the site on Tuesday.
"Everybody I've met out here has been awesome," he said. "It's a great community."
Jerry Underwood, of Cocolalla, returned to Bayview for the first time on Tuesday since the fire started on July 5. He said he wanted to check on his boat, see how close the fire came to the town and chat with locals.
"We came back because we knew the air was clear and the fire was 60 percent contained," he said.
It was far more laid-back than the last time he was in town.
"The bay was full of smoke when we were here last time and the Coast Guard was telling boaters to go to shore," he said, referring to the day the fire broke out. "We were going to go out that day because, before the smoke got bad, it was a great day for sailors with the strong wind."
The Daytons, who live near Athol, said they wanted to help lift community spirit with the barbecue.
"I worked here (at the Navy submarine base), I love these people and I love this community," said Ron, adding that he has friends who evacuated Cape Horn. "We wanted to be involved. It takes a team of people working together."