SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — As we continue our coverage of the Gray and Oregon Road fires, KREM 2 News wants to bring you more to every story and how long it will take the burned areas to look like they did before the fires.
Officials from both the National Weather Service and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources say that it's going to take decades to even remotely look the same as it did before the fires.
When we take a look at the burn severity of the areas affected by the fires, which basically means how hot certain spots burned, it's important to talk about how these temps essentially bake the soil, which then in turn, makes it harder for water to get into it, and that slows down the regrowth process.
According to the Western Fire Chiefs Association, nature undergoes a process of transformation in the aftermath of a wildfire called ecological succession.
In this case, it's a 'secondary succession,' since life already existed in these ecosystems before the fire.
Robin Fox, the service hydrologist for the National Weather Service, said the results of these fires trickle down and affect everything from wildlife to people in these affected areas.
"We do live in a wildfire-prone area and maybe these fires were a little bit of a wake-up call that everyone needs to be prepared for the risk of wildfires, and I think just being prepared is just the smartest thing to do," FoxNational Weather Service said.
Now for those of you who might need a sort of visual aid, fox described this soil-baking process like when you put clay in a kiln. The National Weather Service is now shifting its focus to make sure that there isn't any sort of flash flooding in these burned areas, since water will just roll over the baked soil.
So all that being said, these are the reasons why this regrowth will take years for this very space to look like it once did.
In all, the two fires destroyed 366 primary homes, 240 of them in Medical Lake and 126 in the Elk/Chattaroy area.
On Monday, KREM 2 learned at least 30 families who lost their homes in the Oregon Road Fire still do not have a place to call home, and they will spend yet another winter in temporary housing.
The Long Term Recovery Group has been providing aid for those impacted by the tragic fires in Spokane County. Click here to learn more.