Remembering Roseburg Blast

I was five years old when the Roseburg Blast of 1959 occurred and we lived about two miles west of downtown on West Sherwood Avenue. I remember being awakened by the blast and the blinds falling off all the windows. We walked outside and the sky was bright orange from the fire.

My father, Harold E. (Zeke) Walton, hurried downtown as he was a volunteer fireman, plus he worked for Pacific Northwest Bell, only to find out his best friend, Assistant Fire Chief Roy McFarland, had died trying to move the truck.

My grandfather, Robert E. (Zeke) Walton, managed the Umpqua Hotel for many years.

Mark Walton

Salem