Olympia is sending more than $4.1 million to help Spokane County recover from August’s catastrophic wildfires.
Chandra Fox, the deputy director of the Spokane County Department of Emergency Management, told the county commission Tuesday that the state is contributing several million dollars to recovery efforts for the Gray and Oregon Road fires.
The state Department of Commerce is giving the county $2.9 million, and the governor’s office has pledged $2.5 million. Although these contributions total $5.4 million, the number is misleading because Spokane County must pay 25 percent of the amount.
Spokane County will use the money to pay case managers, who can help homeless families develop recovery plans. It will also go toward temporary housing, asbestos testing and debris removal for the uninsured.
The Gray and Oregon Road fires are, by many measures, the most devastating wildfires in Spokane County history.
The August fires burned 366 homes, leaving hundreds of people homeless and causing millions of dollars worth of damage.
Reconstruction will be a years-long process, and before it can happen, families will have to clear the black and gray piles of rubble where their homes once stood.
Some have already cleaned their properties. For many families with good insurance or access to heavy equipment, cleanup could be quite simple.
Families without insurance or access to backhoes will find themselves in a more difficult situation.
Cleaning up a burning house is rarely as simple as shoveling ash out of the back of a pickup truck.
Many properties are littered with rusted washing machines, burned-out cars and piles of crumpled metal siding. All manner of cumbersome debris needs to be removed, from brick chimneys to clumps of molten glass, and not everyone is capable of removing it on their own.
Insurance companies will cover cleanup costs for most homeowners who lost their homes in the fires, but some people don’t have insurance.
State funding will help cover cleanup costs for uninsured families.
However, cleaning isn’t just about removing bulky junk. State dollars will also pay for asbestos testing, which is a significant financial burden for the uninsured.
Most homes built before 1980 contain some amount of asbestos, a carcinogen that was once commonly used in a wide range of products, including insulation and tiles. Inhaling asbestos fibers left in the ashes of a incinerated home poses a serious health risk.
Gerry Bozarth, a disaster recovery specialist with the emergency management department, said he discourages people from cleaning up their properties on their own because of the potential risks. However, people can do the work legally, as long as they follow state and federal regulations.
Bozarth said he couldn’t estimate how much it costs to clean a typical house. But he said cleaning up an asbestos-laden property can cost 10 times more than cleaning up an asbestos-free property.
