The Marion County Sheriff?s Office said late Saturday that it had recovered human remains on the North Fork Road property of legendary environmentalist George Atiyeh.
The agency said it is still waiting for positive identification from the Marion County Medical Examiner?s Office.
The remains were recovered Thursday.
Atiyeh, 72, who played a central role in saving Opal Creek from clear-cutters, would be the state?s ninth fatality from wildfires.
He is the nephew of the late Gov. Vic Atiyeh, who served from 1979 to 1987.
The Beachie Creek fire roared down the Little North Fork of the Santiam River and burned Atiyeh?s house to the ground.
None of his friends have seen him since before the fires began.
Friends and family had urged Atiyeh to leave when the fire began to expand. His daughter said he told her that he didn?t feel he was in jeopardy and was determined to stay.
The same fire that wiped out Atiyeh?s house also struck his beloved Opal Creek, the federally protected landscape known for its enormous, ancient trees and crystalline pools. The stream and surrounding forest made the site one of the state?s premier hiking destinations.
The 13,500-acre Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area and the 21,000-acre Opal Creek Wilderness Area are in the Willamette National Forest. The heart of the area is about 50 miles east of Salem, where county and national forest roads lead to the old mining town of Jawbone Flats and the surrounding wilderness.
Atiyeh helped family members operate a mine in the area. But when the U.S Forest Service made plans to log the old growth along the pristine stretch of Opal Creek near Breitenbush, Atiyeh fought back.
It became a pivotal moment in the history of Oregon?s environmental movement and resulting timber wars.
Atiyeh and others convinced U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield that the area deserved protection. Federal legislation protecting the creek was passed in 1996.