Many people whose homes burned in last August’s Oregon Road and Gray wildfires in Spokane County are navigating their first winter in temporary housing, such as mobile and motor homes, as they await the chance to rebuild.
Some are getting help from a new non-profit created to guide the recovery effort. The Spokane Regional Long Term Recovery Group is providing short-term help and long-term support.
Its chairwoman, Medical Lake Mayor Terri Cooper, navigated her community through the aftermath of the Gray fire that burned more than 200 homes. Now she has added recovery from the Oregon Road fire in north Spokane County to her job portfolio.
“We funded some RV winterization projects, got some heat underneath of those, got them insulated a little better, tried to position them to get through the winter. But there’s those constant needs of having to refill the propane. How do they get water? It’s frozen. How are they managing their sewer issues now that they’re just in their camper?” she said.
Today, the Spokane Home Builders Association presented the non-profit with $77,400 to help fund its operations.
Cooper says that money will help with immediate needs, but also help the community develop its capacity to provide long-term guidance to people affected by the fires and to others whose lives are upended by disasters.
“It’s really my mission that we establish a statewide recovery in that same model, that it’s well organized, it’s well funded and it’s well staffed, and that we have those resources so that the minute that a disaster happens, recovery begins," she said.
Cooper was one of the sparks behind a new bill in the Washington legislature that would set up a statewide disaster infrastructure to help communities like Medical Lake. It is sponsored by Republican Rep. Mike Volz, who represents Medical Lake.
“We had the Kelso mudslide, we had Malden, we had Medical Lake, Elk. They’re all a little bit different and so I think this is trying to help local communities navigate what’s out there and try to connect them with what’s available," he said.
Volz’s bill would require the state to develop a program to help counties and tribes with long-term recovery planning and responses. It will get a hearing Friday morning in the House Innovation, Community & Economic Development, & Veterans Committee.
He concedes the process of developing a more coordinated statewide long-term response to disasters will likely take a few years, but he thinks the time is right to begin the planning.
Volz has also introduced legislation that would allow the state to allow people who are rebuilding homes to follow the building codes that were in place at the time of the fire, rather than recently-updated building codes that may be more strict.
The board members of Spokane County’s long-term recovery group will hold their next meeting Thursday night at 6 at the American Red Cross Building at 315 West Nora.
