‘Heartbroken.’ Camp for childhood cancer patients largely destroyed in Butte County fire
Jyl Gershen-Lewis came to Camp Okizu every year after her son, Keaton, was diagnosed with cancer. Eventually it became a family trek, with her younger son Rory coming, too.
“It is a slice of heaven for all of us who had kids with cancer,” the Vallejo resident said. “We planned our summers around it. It was like a summer camp that had nothing to do with cancer.”
The camp in the foothills near the Butte County town of Berry Creek was badly damaged by the Bear Fire burning in Northern California.
Okizu is a California-based nonprofit whose stated mission is to “help all members of families affected by childhood cancer to heal through peer support, respite, mentoring, and recreational programs.” Campers kayak, ride Ziplines and practice archery.
For close to four decades, Okizu has based its in-person programs at Camp Okizu, a residential camp in the woods near the small Butte County community of Berry Creek.
This week, extreme wind gusts flared up a complex of wildfires burning near Plumas National Forest and sent one of them, the Bear Fire, at unprecedented speed southwest toward Butte. The town of Berry Creek was almost completely destroyed.
Okizu says the devastation includes Camp Okizu, which sustained “significant fire damage.”
“We are heartbroken to let you know that we were notified today that there has been significant fire damage to our beloved Camp Okizu at Berry Creek,” Suzie Randall, interim executive director for Okizu, wrote in an update to the camp program’s website.
Many of the camp’s buildings – including the main hall and dorms – were destroyed.
Gershen-Lewis feared that would be the case.
“I think we were all bracing for that,” she said, but hopes they will rebuild. “It’s just a magical place. “
Camp Okziu wasn’t occupied, and hadn’t held in-person programs for cancer-stricken families this summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has instead held its family camps virtually; those remote programs will continue “as planned,” Randall says.
“Camp Okizu endures because of our extended family of campers, volunteers, and supporters,” Randall wrote. “Our community is strong and resilient, and you inspire us to be, too.”
The Bear Fire has killed at least three people in Butte County, Sheriff Kory Honea said Wednesday. According to California Highway Patrol officials, at least two of those victims were found that morning in the Berry Creek community, where about 1,200 people live.
Honea said at least 12 other people are missing; authorities received calls regarding at least 85 missing people, of whom 73 had been located as of Wednesday, the sheriff said.
Founded in the early 1980s, Okizu partners with pediatric oncology treatment centers in the Bay Area and Northern California, including Sutter Medical Center and UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, as well as Kaiser’s Roseville Medical Center.
Okizu’s programs, including Camp Okizu, are free of charge to the families.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 7:40 AM with the headline "‘Heartbroken.’ Camp for childhood cancer patients largely destroyed in Butte County fire."
