While firefighters continue to battle the Cache Mountain Fire, Black Butte Ranch is losing an estimated $100,000 a day in revenue that comes from the golf courses, lodging and restaurant services, said its general manager, Loy Helmly.

The ranch was evacuated Sunday afternoon when high winds forced the fire over bulldozed control lines on the southeast side and engulfed two homes with an estimated value between $300,000 and $400,000 each.

There was no golf course damage.

The homes lost were Golf Home 96, owned by Tom Hiat and Mike Poponiak, and Golf Home 97, owned by Connie Hayworth.

Black Butte Ranch officials have been in touch with the owners.

”It looks like a war zone,” he said. ”The terrain is just black. It’s really an amazing thing to see.”

The manager said the ranch has insurance that covers such business interruptions, though he was unsure at this time how much of the ranch’s loss would be reimbursed. Of Black Butte’s approximately 350 seasonal employees, only a skeleton crew is working to staff phones and prepare food for firefighters.

”As far as getting up to speed with operations again, it won’t take us long as soon as we know we can do that,” Helmly said.

”…It’s really communication and sort of that terrible feeling of having to wait. Our hearts go out to the men and women on the fire lines who are putting themselves in harm’s way to protect the ranch.”

Other companies, including those that manage some of the homes on the ranch, are also anxiously waiting to see when the evacuation will end and what their ultimate financial fall-out will be.

Bonnie Howells, owner and manager of Howells Property Management, said she hasn’t yet assessed the loss to the company, which manages 47 homes. She also was not sure what her insurance would cover.

Nancy Dyer, associate broker for Sisters-based Ponderosa Properties, which manages 50 ranch homes, said cancellations have been piling up since the fire spread Sunday.

The company, which receives a 30 percent management fee from the rents it collects, is allowing for full refunds this week. The properties rent for between $104 and $375 per night.

”The cancellations are going into August and I had one in September as well,” she said. ”It’s a big deal…I don’t know how we’ll make it up. I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”

Lisa Rosetta can be reached at lrosetta@bendbulletin.com.