Wildfires that have been raging across Oregon are taking their toll on promo companies in the state, causing shipping delays, power outages, hazardous air, smoke damage and, in some cases, completely decimating facilities.

It’s been a record-setting year for wildfires on the West Coast. As of Wednesday, Sept. 16, there were 79 large fires burning across 10 states, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Oregon was facing a dozen active fires, and even in areas the flames hadn’t reached, a thick haze of smoke blocked out the sun and made it dangerous to venture outside. The fires have killed eight people, left 12 more missing, burned about 1 million acres and destroyed more than 1,600 homes, according to a report in The Oregonian.

As another day of firefighting begins, crews are confronting 31 large #wildfires burning 1,657,682 acres across Oregon & Washington with:

—8,752 Fire personnel
—197 Crews
—539 Engines
—64 Helicopters

Please be safe out there! pic.twitter.com/nwwkdAhZxH

— Forest Service NW (@ForestServiceNW) September 16, 2020

“This is absolutely devastating,” said Chrystal Clayton, vice president of marketing and sales at supplier Steve Clayton Inc. (asi/45365) in Talent, a city in southern Oregon that was ravaged by fires. “The damage in the community, everywhere we go it’s terrible.”

The city of Talent in southern Oregon was decimated by fire. Steve Clayton Inc.’s factory building was spared, but many other houses and buildings were destroyed. These photos were taken by promo pro Chrystal Clayton’s husband.

The fire was actually stopped right across the street from the factory where Steve Clayton creates custom guitar picks. “We were lucky it didn’t get burned,” Clayton said. Last week, employees had to evacuate from the facility. While the factory was off-limits, employees did their best to work on products and shipping from home, but that also posed difficulties, with widespread power outages and sporadic internet access.

Wednesday, Sept. 16 was the first time employees were allowed to return to the factory in a week, though even daily commutes have been affected, since several of the major highways were damaged in the fire and the only access into Talent is on back roads, Clayton said. “I was there the other night trying to get things up and going,” she added. “We had to check to make sure the facility wasn’t contaminated. … We had a little bit of stuff blown in. Luckily, our facility was pretty airtight.”

Another supplier based in Talent hasn’t been so lucky. Sunday Afternoons Inc. (asi/90134), known for its sun protection hats, said on its website and social media that its office building was destroyed in the Sept. 9 wildfire. Thankfully, however, all employees have been accounted for, and the business is still operational, since the office was cleared before the fire reached it, and everyone had been working remotely since the start of the pandemic. “We are supporting our employees and our community,” a note on the supplier’s website read. “We will rebuild.”

Elsewhere in the state, promo companies are feeling the effects of the fires, even if the flames haven’t reached their doors. The state was suffering some of the worst air quality numbers in the world, with Portland at a 422 AQI (air quality index) on Tuesday, Sept. 15 and other towns reaching close to 800 AQI, according to KATU. Any air quality index at or above 301 is considered hazardous.

“This week, we’ve barely been able to see two blocks out,” says Heather Comerford, CEO of 1338Tryon (asi/287946) in Portland. “Everything just smells like smoke. You can’t get away from it. … We don’t have any windows open. Everything is locked down, but it’s still getting into everything.”

Heather Comerford, CEO of 1338Tryon in Portland, says she’s barely been able to see two blocks out from her office window, due to the heavy smoke overlaying Portland. It’s also been chillier than normal, with the smoke blocking out the sun.

The fires and related disruption are taking both a physical and emotional toll, Comerford says, causing symptoms that include burning eyes, sore throats and headaches. She’s been limiting time outside as much as possible and blocking air gaps in her home – taping off fireplaces with plastic wrap and putting towels under doors. Already stuck at home for months due to COVID quarantining, now “We’re sealed into our homes basically,” she said.

Last week, Comerford was trying to proof a T-shirt, but the air quality even put a damper on that routine activity. “We couldn’t figure out what color was printing on the shirt because the sky was literally making everything look orange,” she says.

Over in Eugene, “There’s a fine layer of ash all over,” said Thomas Foster, CEO of Strapworks (asi/337728). Foster compared it to the aftermath of Mount St. Helens major eruption in 1980. Over the weekend, he added, the air quality was so bad, you couldn’t even see across the street, though it’s slowly been improving. By Wednesday, you could see about half a mile, Foster noted.

The interior of the Strapworks factory is covered in a layer of ash as well, which is a particular worry in the sublimation area, since it affects print quality, Foster said. “There’s a visible haze in production,” he said. “We’re all wearing masks due to COVID, which has helped. People haven’t been hacking and coughing here.”

Once rain moves in and the air quality clears, “We’ll have to do a deep cleaning of the factory, there’s no question about that,” he said.

The air quality has also affected shipping times. FedEx temporarily suspended operations for several days this week over concerns for the health of drivers. “Some shipments sat for two days before they could get started,” Foster said, a concern since the distributor gets overnight shipping requests nearly every day.

Meanwhile, the items that have made it out of the factory likely carry the lingering scent of smoke. “We’re in the middle of it, so we don’t notice when we make a strap and send it out that it smells like smoke,” Foster said. “We haven’t had any complaints yet, but many of our customers are probably getting products and wondering why they smell.”

Many Strapworks employees were under level one and two evacuation orders, where you need to be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice. None had to be evacuated, but some had family members who were.

McKenzie SewOn created a T-shirt fundraiser, sponsored by 10 companies, to raise money for people affected by the Oregon wildfires.

As often happens in a crisis, many promo firms kicked into fundraising mode, creating T-shirt campaigns to bring money to families affected by the fires. “We put together an awesome little campaign and grabbed partners and created a T-shirt,” said Joel Halberg, director of sales at Springfield, OR-based distributor McKenzie SewOn (asi/323805). “There are a lot of other companies in Oregon that have done the same. This is the one time where you really feel aligned and thankful that [competitors] are doing similar things. Every little bit helps.”

McKenzie SewOn reached out to 10 different companies who sponsored 36 T-shirts each. So far, 220 shirts have been sold in the fundraiser, and thanks to the sponsors, 100% of the proceeds are going directly to wildfire relief funds, Halberg said.

For much of the West Coast, wildfires are an annual event, but promo professionals say this has been a year unlike any other. “It’s scary how close to Portland the evacuation orders are getting,” Comerford said. “We had more wildfires last year than I ever remember impacting us before, but it’s nothing like it is now. … It’s never been this close.”