Spokane County to provide $40,000 toward eight wildfire rebuilds; Innovia match raises total to $80,000

Spokane County commissioners voted to approve consent-agenda items that include county funding to finish eight homes being rebuilt for survivors of last year's Grama Road and Oregon Road wildfires.

County staff and community groups said the request before the board asks the county to contribute $40,000 toward construction materials and finishing work, with Innovia Foundation providing a matching $40,000 contingency, bringing the project total to about $80,000. The funds would finish interior work such as cabinets, flooring and other "finish" items to make the homes habitable.

The request drew multiple speakers during the open public forum. Jeri Johnson, who identified herself as a board member of Reimagine Medical Lake, said the Spokane Region Long Term Recovery Group helped coordinate funding, procure home-building kits and recruit volunteers. "The Spokane Long Term Recovery Group has done an incredible job securing funding, procuring home building kits, and acting as the community liaison," Johnson said.

Mayor Terry Cooper told commissioners the eight houses are "standing, sited, dried in" and that crews are now facing shortfalls for finishing materials. "All that's left now is the finished work on the inside, the cabinets and the flooring, and we just found ourselves running a little short on the findings," Cooper said.

Gina Swanson, executive director of New Hope Resource Center, said the Long Term Recovery Group has directed fire survivors to case managers and coordinated volunteers, and asked the county to approve the funding. Survivors who testified described living in RVs, high ongoing costs and challenges obtaining insurance for older manufactured homes. Melissa Hunter, who said she lost her home and multiple family members' homes in the fire, said her temporary housing had expired and she was living in an RV. "The long term recovery home, I cannot tell you the blessing that they have been," Hunter said.

Commissioners clarified for the record that the item discussed at the meeting referenced $65,000 in public comments but would actually include a contingency, bringing the county/Innovia combined package to about $80,000: "It will actually be 80,000 to provide about a $15,000 roughly for contingency fund, and that's $40,000 from the county, $40,000 from Innovia," a county official said during the meeting.

A motion to approve agenda items 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 (including subitems) with a correction to item 3 carried by voice vote.

The board and speakers noted that about a dozen additional homes countywide still require rebuilding and that the region is roughly two-thirds rebuilt since the wildfire that commissioners described as the largest asset loss from a wildfire in Washington state history. The items related to this request will appear on the board's upcoming consent agenda for formal processing.

The approval commits county funds to be used for the identified rebuilds; implementation details such as contracting and disbursement were described as staff responsibilities to track and execute.

Community- and faith-based volunteers were credited repeatedly in testimony for providing project management and skilled labor in a model likened to Habitat for Humanity.

Commissioners closed the public-comment portion of the meeting after the testimony and moved to the consent items for approval. The board recorded the correction noted by the chair that an agenda item should refer to a "steering committee of elected officials" rather than the planning commission when scheduling a related hearing for April 1, 2025.

Commissioners said they will consider the funding on the consent agenda at the next regular meeting and proceed with the match from Innovia if approved.