Magnolia Gardens Apartments back open after Almeda Fire

TALENT, Ore. — As smoke begins to fill the skies of the Rogue Valley once again, some Almeda Fire survivors are finally able to take a sigh of relief. The newly rebuilt Magnolia Gardens Apartments in Talent officially reopened on July 1.

“Its a haven for those of us who were just lost. I’ve spent 9.5 months trying to find a place to live,” said new resident and Almeda Fire survivor Melissa Brown. Her story is both incredibly unique yet ubiquitous to many living in Talent and Phoenix. “Two weeks after the fire I turned 80. I have no family and I just didn’t see how I could recover.”

Brown spent nine and a half months without a home to call her own. She spent seven and a half months in a small motor home she said one of the many ‘angels’ around her let her use. “I have to say there were angels everyone that materialized around me, total strangers. Gil is one of them.”

Gil Livni is the property manager for Magnolia Gardens on the 400 block of Talent Avenue. The apartments were practically new the day the Almeda Fire swept through Talent and burned all the units to the ground.

“We just finished this one it was about 3 weeks, one month old, people just moved in people were moving in the day of the fire,” said Livni. As a fire survivor himself, he knows just how important accessible housing is after a disaster.

This week more than a dozen residents will be turning their keys into their permanent home for the first time in months. “I’m so grateful, I’m just so grateful that I can say I have a place, I have a home,” said Brown. Grateful doesn’t begin to cover the emotions residents are feeling.

“People are pretty excited they’re moving out of their hotels, they’re moving in from other states, so its good! Its a good day,” said Livni. While only 24 units are completed and filled, the property owner said there will be 58 total units when construction is complete.

And while it might be a tough transition for some, having a place to call home is just the beginning of a long road to recovery.

“Its going to be difficult for me because I’ve owned my own home for decades and decades and decades and I don’t know how to be a tenant anymore,” said Brown. “I’m grateful in ever so many ways and this is going to work out just fine.”