Malden still awaits federal aid, four months after fire
Pine Creek Recovery received $350,000 to help Malden build community center; facility might house food bank, library
During Labor Day weekend, the Babb Road Fire destroyed more than 80 percent of the city of Malden. Over 100 homes were destroyed, and only 24 homes survived the fire.
January 21, 2021
As President Joe Biden begins his first few days in office, one city in Washington eagerly awaits the financial assistance that has been sitting on former President Donald Trump’s desk since September.
During Labor Day weekend, the Babb Road Fire destroyed more than 80 percent of the city of Malden. Over 100 homes were destroyed, said Malden Mayor Dan Harwood. About 24 homes survived the fire, and most of the community buildings were burnt, including the fire station.
Since then, the town has remained strong and hopeful that the Federal Emergency Management Agency grant they were approved for would be signed by Trump, said Malden councilmember Scott Hokonson.
“FEMA has made their decision already. They take about usually 24 hours to look at the information and then put it on the president’s desk,” Hokonson said. “At least that’s what I’ve been told so it’s been on the president’s desk for months.”
Last week, Harwood and Hokonson met with Gov. Jay Inslee to discuss what will happen with the grant after the inauguration. Harwood said they do not have to reapply for FEMA, and Inslee will continue working with them on receiving aid.
“The frustrating part about this is the state of California and the state of Oregon suffered fires on the same day,” Harwood said. “Nine days after they made their application, they were approved.”
Hokonson said many politicians have hinted the reasoning behind Trump’s delay is because of his personal grudge against Inslee.
Since the assessment from FEMA has been sitting on the president’s desk for so long, many Malden residents are hopeful Biden can address their needs quickly, Hokonson said.
For Malden residents to receive other resources, such as loans from the Small Business Administration who offer disaster loans to homeowners, the president just needs to respond to those resource requests. Malden has been stuck waiting since September, Harwood said.
“We have been waiting all this time for the assistance that can truly benefit our residents, and you know, a decision has to be made,” he said.
Whitman County was also the only county in Washington to qualify for individual assistance for affected residents, Harwood said.
Hokonson said the criteria to qualify is a percentage of homes lost in the area on top of a monetary amount of damages, which Whitman County easily met.
Some Malden residents have been living in RVs or are spread out across the country to live with friends and family because many did not have insurance or enough insurance to cover their total loss, he said.
Residents can qualify for up to $200,000 in loans from the SBA regardless of credit score, he said.
“You know, these folks are tough,” Harwood said, “and this has knocked them down.”
While waiting on Trump has been frustrating, the outpour of help from everyone else has been tremendous, he said.
Congress members, senators and other politicians have sent their support, Hokonson said. Recently, Pine Creek Recovery, which aids Pine City and Malden residents, received an anonymous $350,000 donation to help Malden build a new community center.
The community center gives residents a lot of hope, Harwood said. Malden councilmembers and residents are still planning on what the center will house. This might include a food bank since the fire destroyed the previous facility.
Hokonson said the community center might house a library, which was the most popular community building before the fire.
“The library was one of the biggest parts of the community,” he said. “Having it back would mean that we’re coming back.”
Kari • Jan 23, 2021 at 8:31 pm
I would like to see infrastructure to restore our water; sewer; roads; parks; create additional community space ; supports and recreation.
In addition it is important to help those that did not have insurance to rebuild. Since stated above that insurance covers the library community center and food bank it would be best to use the funds to help the residents and community.
C Cross • Jan 22, 2021 at 7:40 pm
Heads up – Malden was incorporated as a Town. It’s a very small rural Town.
Also, it will be appreciated for all media to give stats which are clear. Readers can’t tell if stats are being claimed to be about Malden or about Malden and Pine City or about Malden, Pine City, and the surrounding rural area which together make up the Fire Zone.
Since Malden Community Congregational Church survived and Kenova/Pine City Grange survived and Malden-Pine City Gun Club survived, I guess it is accurate to say most community buildings were burnt, but let it be known that EVERY municipal structure in Malden burned completely to rubble, and the US Post Office burned to just it’s brick walls. We also lost our historic water tower along our section of the cross-state trail (a favorite photo stop for PTCT visitors), and our historic commercial buildings (the former Caboose Tavern and the location of the former Market run by the Garwood family and later owned by Charlie Parker).
What decision is it that FEMA is being said to have made? and what grant were we approved for? Are the references to Fire Management decision/grant or to something else, such as Housing and/or Other Needs Assistance grants up to $33K https://disaster.unl.edu/fema-individual-assistance-program ?
Thanks very much for some reporting about residents still scattered outside Whitman County.
Unsure how “recently” is meant, but we’re still waiting for documentation about the $350K donation (we know Avista’s $50K donation was stipulated to be used ONLY toward the pole building because we heard Paul announce it, but we have no evidence about the $350K).
Months and months of being told by Scott and other officials what the pole building might be used for, but not yet has there been a Public Meeting or Survey to find out what residents would prefer, and only one heads up about the status of the Town’s Insurance Claim (they took the $ for Felton Memorial Hall and the Old Town Hall/Shop, and the Community Center/Library/Town Hall and Fire Dept buildings were covered for full replacement, with the build back design pending local government approval).