MEDICAL LAKE, Wash. — People in Medical Lake are feeling the impact of the the devastating Gray Fire that destroyed more than 150 structures.
Bruce Bruscia remembers August 18 as though it was yesterday.
"It was just this huge billowing smoke cloud that enveloped the whole camp," Bruscia said.
Bruscia works as Silver Lake Bible Camp's treasurer and lives across the lake from it. He remembers the camp's lodge and its oldest cabins surviving the fire.
"I could see all of those buildings that you see they're still standing and I thought to myself, wow, what an amazing thing," Bruscia said.
But still, the camp suffered more than $5 million in damages.
He said, "The major losses from the fire were five cabins, five houses, a bathhouse, a tool shop."
The camp is still working to get payouts from their insurance company, Church Mutual. In December, the camp received noticed from Church Mutual that they would not be renewing the camp's policy due to 'high wildfire hazard.'
"When you look around at the amount of damage that's been done, the the desecration of the forest, there's really not a lot of forest left burn," Bruscia said.
In a statement to KREM 2 Church Mutual Insurance wrote quote, "As a mutual company with customers nationwide, we sometimes must make difficult, but necessary, decisions to better manage our risks to remain financially strong so we can continue to protect all our customers."
Church Mutual's policy closed in March and the camp is still looking for another insurance company. It hasn't been a walk in the park.
"This is the letter from Washington Fair Plan that says they won't cover us," Bruscia said. "We don't meet their underwriting criteria."
Bruscia says other insurance companies he's trying to pursue cite similar reasons, that there's just too much wildfire risk.
"With the construction about done, we're going to reapply and see if they will reconsider," Bruscia said.
But even with the frustration of not having insurance, it's not going to dampen the camp's summer.
He said, "We are driven to speak into the lives of young people to help them mature, to help them grow, to help them grow spiritually."
The camp is getting ready for their first summer camp of the year, that will start on June 17.
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