SPOKANE, Wash. — It's been nearly two months since the towns of Medical Lake and Elk experienced devastating wildfires that caused many residents to lose everything. However, Washington's governor is still trying to get more funding as the towns continue to recover.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee visited Spokane's Red Cross Center Thursday to talk about the state's plans for victims of the Gray and Oregon Road fires. Inslee told KREM 2, visiting Red Cross was one of his top priorities, and wildfire victims in Medical Lake and Elk have his full support. The governor added the state is providing money for debris cleanup and hopes to add additional resources as temperatures drop.
Inslee met with representatives from the Red Cross and local non-profits to discuss what's being done to help wildfire victims. The state has already provided more than $4 million in disaster relief. The Red Cross said they are using state support to clean up debris and burned trees.
"Local community members, organizations like the American Red Cross and then state government is here to support all of those that are struggling with recovery with these fires," said Lacie Clark, the executive director of Spokane Red Cross.
Clark said the Red Cross is still out on the grounds helping impacted residents, but there are still people who haven't gotten the help they need.
"We currently have some caseworkers that are coming in to be on the ground to help those survivors, help locate those that we haven't connected with, to help get them some immediate assistance," she said.
The governor recently sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking for additional funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It's been more than a week, and his request is ninth on the disaster recovery list.
Right now, it's not clear when the state can expect federal assistance.
"The problem we're having is there are so many disasters around the country, many of which have been precipitated by climate change, that there there areas that have had larger damage than we have," Inslee said. "This is an uphill battle under the laws that currently exist to be able to get this aid, but we think the damage warrants us at least making a college try to get this."
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