Long Term Recovery Group recaps three years of fire recovery work

PATEROS – Three years of rebuilding, fundraising and recovery efforts following the state’s two worst wildfire disasters formed the centerpiece of a presentation by the Okanogan County Long Term Recovery Group (OCLTRG) at the Church of Christ in Pateros last Friday, Jan. 19.
Pateros Mayor and OCLTRG Executive Director Carlene Anders served as Master of Ceremonies for the comprehensive 90-minute review of what the team volunteers, businesses and donors have accomplished since the 2014 Carlton Complex and the 2015 Okanogan Complex wildfires burned more than half a million acres and hundreds of homes.
Included in the discussion were reports from disaster case manager (DCM) and Volunteer Coordinator (VC) Lead Renae Haug, VC Aimee Bannwarth, DCM Lead Jessica Rounds, and Reconstruction Project Manager Barry Hansen.
A finalized printed report summarizing all the facts and figures in Friday’s presentation is expected to be available by the end of February.
The Church of Christ at 124 N. Dawson St. served as a fitting venue for the OCLTRG event for a couple of reasons: It survived the Carlton Complex inferno that consumed nearly three dozen Pateros residences and another 40 at Alta Lake, and it housed hundreds of volunteers who later arrived to assist in recovery efforts.
Haug, who will continue her VC lead duties through this year, explained the process of preparing volunteers from many states and Canada for the jobs and conditions they will face.  Every detail from needed tools and weather variations to experienced team leads and proximity to housing was considered.
“Once the 2015 fire happened, it made logistics a little more difficult because we had housing all the way up in Omak, down to Pateros and in Chelan,” Haug said.
Bannwarth added that volunteers coming from outside the area needed to be aware of the weather they could face, from rain, mud, and snow to temperature extremes. They had to be ready for temperatures from below freezing to near triple-digits, Bannwarth said.
Whatever the coordinators did appeared to agree with both volunteers and teams because many returned multiple times for another tour.
In 2017 alone, 305 volunteers from 28 different teams put in more than 33,000 hours. From the beginning of 2015 through the end of last year nearly 1,800 volunteers, many from 97 different teams, clocked more than 123,000 hours.
Another group, North Creek Presbyterian Church built house walls on the west side of the state, hauled them to the home site and, with the help of Christian Public Service personnel, set the walls on the foundation in record time.
Haug showed an example of one project where the walls arrived at the home site at 3:54 p.m. and were in place and erected by 4:39 p.m. the same afternoon.
“These guys have it down,” Haug said.
Restoration Hope brought morel than 102 volunteers along with dump trucks, excavator, dozer and crane truck on five different occasions to log an excess of 7,600 hours of site work.
“United Methodist Volunteer in Mission has returned with multiple teams since 2014,” Bannwarth said.
There were many, many others. Figures are still being collected from 2014 to determine the total number of volunteers,
Rounds delivered an overview of how disaster cases were opened, evaluated and managed based on need and resource availability.
In his brief address, Reconstruction Project Manager Hansen recapped the work done on 13 homes in 2017 and how electrician-plumber Terry Parsons was an indispensable “go-to guy” throughout the builds.
Anders wrapped up the presentation with a review of upcoming projects this year along with the completion of an additional four homes.
“Right now, we are moving into the last part of Phase Three on our rebuild,” said Anders. “We’ve got four homes that will start foundations in April and hope to have those finished by fall.”
Anders said all home rebuilds, 35 to 37 of them, should be completed by the end of this year. The average cost of each home rose steadily over the past three years, Haug said.
Phase 1, Carlton Complex averaged $62,000 per home.
Phase 2A, also Carlton Complex, increased to $67,000 per home.
Phase 2B, Okanogan Complex, averaged $80,000 per home.
Along with the Phase 3 rebuild, Anders said many other projects are planned in the months ahead.
Rising from the Ashes: A five-day reunion from July 18-22, to bring together survivors, volunteers, and donors.
Capture the Story: A compilation of survivor, volunteer and donor accounts, is another project that OCLTRG hopes to have completed and published in 2019.
Play It Forward: A mentor program that takes all the lessons learned from our local disaster and uses it to help other victims in other parts of the country. As part of a national Disaster Leadership Team, Anders has been to Texas twice to help victims of Hurricane Harvey deal with their issues.
Surveys: Erosion, Flooding and Access Surveys are part of an effort to better understand and deal with conditions left in the wake of the damage.
“The water is moving differently than it has even in Okanogan County,” said Anders of the ground and water studies.
READY(www.ready.gov): A FEMA program that encourages advance plans for disasters and explains what to do in the event of fires, floods, earthquakes and tornadoes.
Map Your Neighborhood: Develop a quick and safe disaster action plan with neighbors for emergency preparedness.
Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD):  Anders said OCLTRG is working with Maurice Goodall of Okanogan County Emergency Management to develop an Okanogan County COAD program.
When the Okanogan Complex fire of 2015 erupted on the heels of the 2014 Carlton Complex fire, OCLTRG expanded its scope to take in five counties: Okanogan, Douglas, Chelan, Stevens and Ferry.
 “There was one point in the middle of that 2015 fire when I wondered: ‘How are we going to do this?’” said Anders. “It happened because of you all sitting here,” Ander said to the volunteers and donors.
And the work goes on. Anders had to close the presentation by 11 a.m. so the Unmet Needs Roundtable (UNR) that has met every month since November 2014, could convene. From the time it was formed after the Carlton Complex fire, the UNR has funded more than $1.5 million toward the recovery effort. Nearly $800,000 of that went to 88 cases and 177 beneficiaries in four counties from the 2015 Okanogan Complex fire. Another $800,000-plus funded 93 cases and 182 beneficiaries from the Carlton Complex fire.
A few days prior to Friday’s program, Anders was asked what most impressed her about all the work and progress that characterized the past three years.
“I guess I’m most affected by the holistic way it all came together,” said Anders. “We didn’t turn down any offer or anybody; we found a place to make everything work.”