(The Center Square) - Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson is asking President Donald Trump to approve a major disaster declaration for Eastern Washington wildfires that destroyed hundreds of homes, displaced thousands of residents and caused more than $188 million in estimated damage.
Ferguson announced the request Monday in Spokane, and said federal assistance is critical to helping homeowners rebuild and communities recover from the fires that swept through the region beginning Aug. 1.
“Today we are submitting our request for a major disaster declaration to President Trump,” Ferguson said. “To be direct, this declaration is absolutely critical to provide federal dollars to help individuals and our communities recover.”
The request seeks Federal Emergency Management Agency individual assistance for residents in Spokane, Benton, Stevens and Okanogan counties, as well as the Spokane Tribe. The state is also seeking more than $117 million in FEMA public assistance for debris removal and emergency response costs across 11 counties.
The federal government previously approved an emergency declaration that provided resources for the immediate response. A major disaster declaration would open additional assistance programs for individuals and local governments.
Ferguson said the state is hoping for a faster response than it received after requesting federal assistance for flooding earlier this year.
“When we made our request for the floods earlier this year, it was seven weeks after making the request before we heard the positive response,” Ferguson said. “It is my hope that the federal government will make it sooner than seven weeks.”
Damage assessments submitted with the request found that 649 primary residences were destroyed across the four counties and the Spokane Tribe, with four more sustaining major damage and 15 experiencing minor damage. Another 2,523 homes sustained lower-level damage, usually to their exteriors.
The estimated damage to those structures exceeds $188 million, Ferguson said.
Spokane County accounted for 615 of the destroyed homes.
The state estimates FEMA individual assistance could total more than $11 million. Public assistance funding for 11 counties — Asotin, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Grant, Okanogan, Spokane, Stevens, Whitman and Yakima — could exceed $117 million.
Robert Ezelle, director of the Washington State Emergency Management Division, said the state is preparing to move quickly if the declaration is approved.
“We are doing everything we can to front-load the process so when we do get the request approved, we will be ready to move within days or weeks,” Ezelle said. “So we are taking this seriously.”
Ezelle said 75% of the funding would be paid by the federal government, with the remaining 25% split between the state and counties.
Ferguson said FEMA determines eligibility for individual assistance, which is generally intended to help people who are uninsured or underinsured. Income is among the factors considered, he said, but residents should register if the declaration is approved so FEMA can evaluate their circumstances.
“Please register,” Ferguson urged.
State assistance, he said, is not subject to those same eligibility factors.
State proposes rebuilding relief
Ferguson also announced steps intended to lower rebuilding costs for homeowners who lost their homes.
He said he planned to urge the Washington State Building Code Council to allow homeowners rebuilding on the same property to use an earlier version of the state energy code. Homes built before 2015 could be allowed to use 2015 standards, while homes built after 2015 could use the code in effect when they were originally constructed.
Ferguson said he plans to propose legislation during the upcoming legislative session providing state and local sales and use tax rebates for homeowners rebuilding on the same site after a declared disaster.
As an example, he said someone spending $400,000 to rebuild a home in Spokane could receive more than $36,000 in rebates. The amount is a rough estimate, he said.
Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, who led the state's review of potential rebuilding measures, said the proposed assistance reflects the scale of the losses.
“This is the largest assistance program in the wake of a disaster for people in the history of our state,” Heck said. “The combination of things recommended here are big, big, big, and they deserve to be big, big, big.”
Heck recalled Ferguson calling him about seven weeks ago to ask for help.
“He said, ‘This is my north star. These people have lost everything but the shirts on their back. It is our job in the state government to do whatever it is that we can to be as whole as possible,’” Heck said.
Adam Morrison, a Spokane homeowner who lost his house in the fires, described the speed of the evacuation and the devastation his family found when they returned.
Morrison said he, his wife and daughter escaped with only moments to spare, briefly returning to retrieve their pets.
“Perhaps the most difficult thing was a few days later we returned to our home site,” Morrison said during the press event. “I was not prepared for the level of devastation. It is something out of a post-apocalyptic movie.”
Morrison said his daughter lost the only home she had ever known and that rebuilding will take years.
“We will eventually rebuild,” he said. “We love this community and neighborhood. We are all struggling and this will be a multi-year process for us to get through.”
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said local philanthropic funds could help address needs not covered by insurance or government aid.
“Our goal is to get this understood as soon as possible — what is covered by insurance, what's covered by federal and state resources, and then to use those philanthropic funds to address those needs,” Brown said. “We want to fill the gap.”
