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Local recovery group outlines long-term Elk fire rebuilding effort
Summary
A volunteer long-term recovery group told the Riverside School District board it has coordinated case management, temporary housing and repaired occupancy for dozens of families after the Elk fire, while citing challenges with asbestos testing, insurance and fragmented federal/state support.
Dick Zener, a local community member, told the Riverside School District board the Spokane Region Long-Term Recovery Group has worked for more than two years to help residents left without adequate support after the Elk fire.
Zener described an early effort to organize volunteer case management and to charter a 501(c)(3) so the group could accept charitable funds. "Once we got the 501(c)(3), that opened the door" to larger grants and donations, he said, adding that faith-based organizations and Mennonite volunteer crews have provided much of the on-the-ground labor.
Zener said roughly 177 primary residences in the Riverside area were affected and that the group helped provide winterized temporary housing, case management and targeted rebuilding. He said the group obtained what he described as roughly $3.2 million "in pieces and parts" from state sources that financed disaster case managers and interim housing support, and that Anovia and other partners later brought in larger sums.
Zener described recurring technical and regulatory hurdles. He said asbestos mitigation requirements and county permitting rules complicated cleanup and rebuilding, telling the board that many residents were "blindsided" by the need for specialized testing before property could be touched. He also said some residents in the most heavily affected areas were effectively uninsurable and that the recovery group is working with the state insurance commissioner and disaster case managers to help those families find coverage or to build new, insurable homes.
The presentation recounted efforts to mobilize federal help: case managers assembled victim files that FEMA and other agencies later used to provide clean-up assistance and limited rebuilding support. Zener said HUD funds allocated to the region (which he said amounted to $44 million for Spokane County restoration) created further decisions about how to allocate recovery dollars locally.
Zener also described small-scale housing solutions the group facilitated: prefabricated package homes and modified storage containers that were insulated, fitted with heat pumps and made safe for occupancy after county review, and a work-study model in which volunteers both build and train local residents in construction skills.
Board members asked about insurance for rebuilt homes. Zener said new homes the group builds are intended to be insurable, and that case managers continue to assist residents with insurance appeals and documentation. He told the board he expects HUD and partner funding to support dozens more homes in the coming months.
The presentation concluded with board appreciation for the recovery group's volunteer work and a reminder that long-term recovery can span years; the board then returned to routine agenda business.
