DAYTON — In 2022, the Elmo Fire burned thousands of acres on the Flathead Reservation.
The Holetts were preparing to move into their home in Dayton when the fire destroyed it, along with their life savings.
"They were saying, 'You gotta get out now.' So, we went to our bottom of our hill and parked and turned around. And our home was gone within 10, 15 minutes of when we left," Lisa Holett said.
The Holetts sometimes wonder if their home could have been saved, saying there were communication issues with multiple agencies involved in fire management.
"At one point, it's our understanding that the planes were down during a critical time period. There were agencies pulling in different directions," the Holetts said.
Now, nearly four years later, they have almost finished rebuilding farther up the hill.
"When we were thinking, you know, we can't live here anymore. I think the thing that kept coming back to me was, 'Am I gonna regret it someday?' And so I'm glad that we didn't give up," Lisa Holett said.
Still, living within the burn scar brings reminders of their experience and concerns about the future.
"Every year when there's a fire, we get scared. And even though now there's no trees here, we know that we've had ash from the other fire in our driveway, so ash could hit our deck. So, you're not in the clear," Lisa Holett said.
"We have a 2-mile gravel road to get to the highway. And so we have to take a chainsaw with us. On windy days, the burned trees are falling over the road. They're snapping off, they're falling, the stumps are coming out," Steve Holett said.
"Well, because they're four years old now, right? So they're getting weaker and weaker. So even though they're completely burned, they're still standing, and they're getting weaker and weaker," Lisa Holett said.
The Holetts say recovering from the fire has brought their neighborhood closer together.
They now offer help each fire season to others who have lost property or face similar situations.
"I think we're just so much more diligent on watching what's happening. Well, and then offering [help]. At one point, there was a farm that burned down and we went over and we're like, 'Do you need help?' Because we know what it's like," the Holetts said.
