The Oregon CattleWomen organization has been on the front lines of efforts to help ranchers and others recover from last summer’s devastating Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon.

“The person who has been in the center of the storm from the beginning is Diana Wirth from Klamath Falls,” said Tammy Dennee, executive director of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.

Wirth is president of the Oregon CattleWomen.

“She has organized feed, nutritional supplements and medicine to help the cattle ranchers deeply affected by the fires and water shutoff,” Dennee said.

Wirth was quick to give most of the credit to the southern Oregon communities that came together to face the fire and its aftermath.

“It wasn’t a great big community organization effort so much as us trying to facilitate getting supplies into the community as opportunities arose,” Wirth said.

The Oregon CattleWomen is an advocacy group for the industry with about 1,600 members. It formerly was the auxiliary of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association.

The lightning-caused Bootleg Fire burned 413,000 acres and destroyed 408 buildings, including 161 houses and 247 outbuildings. More than 2,000 people in the surrounding areas were under evacuation orders.

Wirth said about 15,000 to 20,000 cattle died or were injured. The uninjured cattle were “pulled off their allotments and put on fall forage,” since ranchers were unable to grow hay.

In the wake of the devastation and with feed supplies down, Wirth said the Grange Co-op, an agricultural supply cooperative, “was instrumental in helping get us what we needed.”

She said the CattleWomen and the co-op worked together to coordinate the procurement of feed for ranchers whose livestock was forced off pastures, as well as medicines and other supply needs. They initially raised over $5,000, and the Grange Co-op then matched that with another $5,000 in in-kind efforts.

The Grange Co-op also donated a ton of its private-label feed to the rescue effort.

Several organizations were contacted and pitched in to help farmers and ranchers during the initial stages of the fire.

Here’s just a sampling of the many groups and organizations that stepped up to help:

• The American Red Cross — provided shelter, food, supplies and other support.

• The Baptist Church on Homedale — provided two meals a day for displaced farmers and ranchers.

• Project Spirit Horse Rescue — rescued more than 200 head of livestock and pets in the path of the fire.

• Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank — provided over 4,000 pounds of food for fire victims.

Wirth said Dr. Ryan Scholz, the state veterinarian, “has been instrumental in securing the medicine needed and facilitating distribution through the Juniper Large Mobile Clinic and the Lakeview Animal Hospital.”

“Purina Animal Nutrition also donated nearly 4 tons of feed products for animals, and Coastal Farm and Ranch allowed producers to take products off their shelves at no cost to them,” Wirth said.

“We still need help because the fire’s out but the need doesn’t stop,” she said. “The worst part is that we need more.”