Yesterday the Marion County Sheriff’s Office announced that 30 year old volunteer firefighter Austin Smith had tragically passed away while responding to a morning blaze. That firefighter was perhaps better known as an award-winning hop farmer, homebrewer, and manager of St. Paul, Oregon’s B&D Farms. Austin was a sixth generation hop farmer who just last month celebrated winning the Cascade Cup at the 66th annual USA Hop Convention. He also had a St. Paul brewery/taproom concept in-the-works nearly 4 years in the making that he hoped to open later this year.

Austin’s great-great-grandfather first started hop farming along the sandy loam against the Willamette River in 1895. Austin’s father and uncle Ben and Dave Smith founded B&D Hop Farms in 1984 and took it from 15 acres of hops to over 1000 acres growing nine different hop varieties today. B&D is one of six farms to found the West Coast Hop Breeding Company, and provides hops to both large national breweries and small locals.

I first met Austin Smith in 2018 as he prepared to open his own commercial brewery on the hop farm called Trellis Brewing. The plan was for a small on-site taproom where drinkers could get the closest experience to the terroir possible. That project never quite came to fruition as originally planned, but Austin never gave up and was planning to open his long gestating project as an impressive taproom, bar and restaurant this summer. During the 2020 hop harvest I visited B&D Hop Farm with Theshold Brewing & Blending, one of Austin’s many clients. You could tell his passion for craft beer and brewing right away, which is something that is not necessarily common even for hop farmers. We toured the farm during the final smokey days of the wildfire season and chronicled it in video form. After the tour Austin shared his homebrews, and talked about some of his favorite local brews.

We kept in contact, messaging over instagram as he posted the occasional hop farm update and had started an account for his next project Harvester Taproom. Just a few weeks ago I checked in with him, he was excited about the 90 year old Doug Fir that they had hand fashioned into a huge centerpiece communal table for the taproom and getting his final building permits. Austin and his fellow Harvester partners envisioned a gathering place to showcase the Willamette Valley’s farmers, ranchers, suppliers, brewers, distillers, cider makers, and anyone else that called the area home. I barely knew Austin, but his passion for craftmanship and the community was we know he would be happy to learn that the Harvester Taproom still opened after his passing.

Around 4am on Thursday February 3rd someone called 911 to report a large barn on fire at Champoeg Creek Lane NE, near McKay Road NE. Austin suited up to join the St. Paul Fire District to fight the blaze along with crews from Aurora Fire District, Mt. Angel Fire District, Woodburn Fire District, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue, Canby Fire District, Dayton Fire Department and Hubbard Fire District. It’s still unclear what started the fire, but while the St. Paul firefighters were battling the blaze there was an explosion that leveled the barn and critically injured Austin who was lifeflighted to OHSU where he passed away from his injuries. Austin leaves behind a wife and extended family in the St. Paul area. He served with the St. Paul Fire District as a volunteer firefighter since 2015.

Investigators from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police, and the Oregon Office of the State Fire Marshal are conducting a joint investigation into the incident. Current efforts are underway to ensure it is safe for investigators to enter the scene. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Due to this being an active investigation, no additional information is available for release at this time.

St. Paul Fire District Chief Bryan Lee stated, “This is a tragic loss for our community and family. We are all heartbroken over this loss. We appreciate the support from the community and public safety partners during this difficult time.”

Please help support Austin's family in this very tragic time of need.