State legislators vow to help people affected by wildfires

State Rep. Jenny Graham spent her Sunday afternoon walking through the ashy rubble of Medical Lake homes in the district she represents.

She described the experience as “somber.”

Graham, who represents the 6th Legislative District, is one of many locals who are housing evacuees displaced by the Gray fire in Medical Lake and Oregon Road fire in Elk.

“How do you explain looking at a neighborhood, and you have houses that are fine and others that are ash,” she said. “Everything is gone.”

Graham said she and other legislators plan to make calls on behalf of people impacted by the Medical Lake and Elk fires.

“Our offices also do case work,” she said. “If we have somebody who maybe is struggling with getting help of some sort, we can make calls. We can’t fill out their paperwork for them, but we can make calls.”

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee flew to Spokane County on Sunday morning to meet with first responders in the wake of the Gray and Oregon Road wildfires, hours after his office issued a statewide emergency proclamation.

“This fire moved 7 miles in one afternoon,” Inslee said at a news conference. “This thing can chase you as fast as you can run almost. So I want to show my appreciation for what people have done.”

Mike Faulk, spokesman for Gov. Inslee’s office, said in a phone interview Sunday that the governor is looking at applying for federal aid to help with recovery.

“That process may take a while,” Faulk said. “Part of it is just being able to access areas and assess damage, as you have to provide an estimate.”

On Sunday evening, state Rep. Mike Volz sheltered at his home near Whitworth University, staying indoors to avoid – to the best of his ability – hazardous air quality.

“I have pretty severe asthma,” Volz said. “When the air quality gets above 150, I have problems.”

Air quality in Spokane County remained in the unhealthy range Sunday evening.

Volz said he talked to his legislative suitemates over the weekend and that state lawmakers plan to “roll up their sleeves” to support recovery from the fires.

“We definitely will have a plan,” he said. “I sent a message to the mayor that she’ll have our support on what their plan is. We’ll definitely do whatever we can from the state level. You can’t really heal necessarily, it doesn’t go away. But we can do something to help.”