The only grocery store in Wellpinit stepped up to help those displaced by the Cayuse Mountain Fire this week.
Wellpinit Trading Post is the only grocery store and only restaurant in town. The food display cases at the shop are practically bare, because staff have been making lunches and dinners for firefighters and fire victims since the outbreak.
"We just grabbed all the stuff off the shelf that we could. And put the sandwiches, chips, drinks, all of that together for them,” said Kathy Moss, the store manager. “Around 10:30 we lost power. So then we were just working in the dark until about 1 a.m.”
The following day, Trading Post staff went to the local Bureau of Indian Affairs office to use their kitchen. An emergency fund from the tribe is covering the cost of the food.
“We’re looking at about $8,000 worth of products that we lost,” said Moss. “We lost all of our dairy. All of our fresh meat.”
But the staff at Wellpinit Trading Post said helping out is what you do when your community needs it.