MEDICAL LAKE, Wash. — Wednesday night's town hall meeting at Medical Lake High School for the Gray Fire started with a standing ovation for first responders and firefighters.
Many people, including Darrel Jepsen, lost everything.
"We left with the clothes we had on," Jepsen said. "My wife left with three photo albums. The smoke was so dark that you couldn't see the road, we just to hope we were in the middle, but we made it."
District 3 Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach showed residents where the fire started, about three miles southwest of town on a hillside burning wheat stubble.
"We're here with you," Rohrbach said. "We're going to continue to work tirelessly until we can put this into full recovery mode."
Avista says power has been restored and 95% of gas lines are repaired.
"I was more interested in the procedure now on the cleanup," Jepsen said. "What help are we going to have? Are we going to have any backup from the federal government? Things like that. We didn't get a whole lot of that but apparently it's to come."
Medical Lake Mayor Terri Cooper says she's been in contact with the White House and expects more answers regarding state and federal assistance soon.
Authorities plan to open a resource center by Friday. The location has not been determined, but it will be a one-stop shop for residents with access to insurance providers, the department of licensing and other services.
"I did like the community getting together and supporting one another and it was good for us to all see neighbors and talk together, some of them we hadn't seen before," Jepsen said.
Officials also announced they have stopped forward progression of the fire. They want people returning to be careful around burned trees at risk of falling.
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