On September 8th, 2020, The Almeda fire started swept through the Rogue Valley within a matter of hours, pushed by sustained red flag winds and affecting multiple communities. In less than a day it had destroyed 2,382 residential structures and 178 commercial structures, making homeless thousands of local residents. Large parts of Talent had been destroyed and an estimated 74% of Phoenix had been destroyed. At the time it was the most destructive wildfire in Oregon’s recorded history.
"Phoenix Rising from the Ashes" is a mural painted by Benjamin Swatez in the days following the fire. Originally on the side of a burned-out van, rsidents of Phoenix were able to save the painting/memorial as an homage to the resilience and growth to the Rogue Valley after the Almeda Fire.
In the geocache gallery are images of Benjamin at his work.
This cache is on a busy main street in town and close to the police station. If you park across the street or by the nearby earthcache (on the left) please use the crosswalks for safety. There is parking on both sides of this one-way street.
To receive credit for this cache please message the following (one message per group):
- The number of people in your group and all geocaching names.
- How many bolts are through the frame on the bottom?
- On the inside of the left frame what is the first word on the firehose?
Happy caching!
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.