Canyon Dwellers Show Can-Do Spirit : Silverado Residents’ Camaraderie Sees Them Through Disasters Large and Small

Life in a small canyon community often comes down to the basics. The community of Silverado Canyon near Cleveland National Forest--a place where the 16 members of the volunteer Fire Department know most of the people they serve--lives close to the elements.

The beauty of the mountains, and the hazards posed by threats of fire, mudslides and flooding, bind the people together. Recently, flames burned much of Fire Station 14, causing $750,000 damage and deeply affecting the lives of residents. Nearly a quarter century ago, five canyon residents died inside the fire station during a terrible mudslide.

Residents are deeply affected by their proximity to nature and by their common experiences. The disasters have helped foster camaraderie and a can-do spirit in this special community. The residents are undaunted, rallying anyway to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the fire station and its volunteer firefighters early next year. Their modern-day pioneering spirit at times seems to be all that keeps the canyon enclave from succumbing to nature’s most powerful forces. “When you live in the mountains, you live with the idea that something big can happen. People have to live with it or leave,” said John Sleppy, a retired firefighter who works in Silverado Canyon.

Shortly after the recent fire, residents held an emergency town meeting and set up a donation box at Del Clark’s Shadybrook Country Store. Signs are urging residents to help rebuild the damaged station. The uncertainty of the climate binds people together, and volunteers are continuing to provide service from a nearby U.S. Forest Service office. County officials eventually hope to construct a new station. But residents properly are focusing on the future, not the past disasters. They have chosen their lot in life and are bravely planning to go ahead with the 50th-anniversary celebration.

Good for them. Somehow, this family spirit and sense of community will see them all through. Those of us from the more harried and impersonal world outside the canyon environment might help if we can.