ELK, Wash. — It's been more than two months since Annie Patrick lost the home she called 'God's Grace' in the Oregon Road fire.
She first told KREM 2 News in September about how asbestos testing was holding her back from moving on.
"I had one test out of 90 that turned out positive," she said.
Now, as the seasons change, she's still waiting.
Annie, bundled up in a winter coat, was posted above the pit of her former basement. Atop her camp chair, she watched as Gary Randall dug and sifted through the rubble. It will be her second asbestos test in as many months, after the Aberdeen-based AHERA-certified building inspector saw the original KREM 2 report.
"I watched it, and I just thought it was ridiculous what I was hearing, that she was going to have to pay $86,000 for one positive sample," Randall said.
On Friday, he drove from southwest Washington to Patrick's property in Elk to perform the testing for free. He says he's sticking to Spokane Regional Clean Air's strict and specific testing guidelines, which means sifting through the burned material grid line by grid line.
KREM 2 News reached out to Clean Air after complaints that the guidelines were confusing or that the agency was not accepting test results under equal standards. The agency said they did have several asbestos providers reach out for clarification about the guidelines.
"We also have been reviewing the first survey we became aware of from each provider. We identified some inadequacies and contacted the provider to provide clarification and ensure complete surveys going forward. Testing and most sampling methods are developed, certified, and approved by other agencies. Testing methods required by SRCAA come from EPA, and they have not changed," an agency spokesperson said in an email. "There have not been any changes to the asbestos regulations since 2014. Since the fires, we have made some clarifying updates and additions to our guidance documents. There have been no major changes. First, we created a Q&A specific to those impacted by the wildfires so they had everything they needed in one document. For the asbestos providers, we added an example “Alternate Asbestos Survey Plan” and information on how to find accredited labs."
While she's still waiting for Clean Air's approval to clean up, at least one part of Annie's story has changed since she last spoke to KREM 2 News. She's now back on her property, ready to spend the winter in her new home: a camp trailer.
"I feel more at home, even though it's a tiny home, I'm here," she said.
Patrick says she's more fortunate than some of her neighbors going into the winter: she has electricity and plumbing. Even that's cold comfort.
"This started in August, we should've been cleaned up in September and building in October," she said. "But we're still waiting for testing. It'll be Christmas."
A major part of the problem, identified numerous times and as recently as a Thursday night meeting at the Red Cross, is a backlog for the testing.
"The labs will take two to three weeks," said Richard Ziehnert, chairman of the Elk long-term recovery group. "So, we might have two feet of snow out there by that time. So the biggest issue with them is just that it's taking so long."
It's something Randall has often seen while working in disaster recovery in southwest Washington.
"So that's what's happened here. The local labs are set up for what they normally have, the normal patterns of testing and stuff like that. Well, it's been inundated," he said.
He'll send samples from Patrick's property to a lab out of the Spokane area, which Clean Air lists on its website as an option. Until those results come in, Patrick is still waiting on plans to build a new roof to cover her car and "tiny home."
"God knows he could still find asbestos after all of this, and I could be in worse trouble," she laughs.
If not, it will be a step closer to a new foundation as 'God's Grace' rises from the ashes.
RELATED: Gov. Inslee visits local Red Cross Center to discuss plans for Spokane County wildfire victims
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