OCLTRG dedicates Omak homes

OMAK – Okanogan County Long Term Recovery Group (OCLTRG) volunteers and supporters joined family and friends for two home dedications last Friday, June 21, at sites east of Omak to dedicate two of the final homes in the county, built in a three-phase project over the past five years.

Susan and Dennis Best’s house on Haley Creek Road, and the Robert and Aaron Stafford home at Bigfoot Crossing are among the last of some dozen residences completed in the Phase Three round of recovery and rebuild being completed this year.

More than 60 celebrants gathered at both sites before concluding the day with a BBQ dinner at Smallwood’s Farm south of Okanogan.

OCLTRG was founded in October 2014 as the Carlton Complex Long Term Recovery Group following the July 2014 Carlton Complex wildfire and expanded to include more homes following the 2015 Okanogan Complex wildfire.

With the help of more than 2,000 volunteers and 126 teams, including eight AmeriCorps groups from the National Civilian Community Corps, some three dozen residences have been rebuilt from the Methow Valley to Tonasket.

Phase One dealing with the Carlton Complex fire completed 13 homes in 2017, 11 of those stick-built and two manufactured.

Phase Two, completed in the summer of 2018, encompassed Okanogan Complex losses and restored 15 homes, eight stick built and seven manufactured.

Phase Three scheduled for completion this summer adds up to a dozen homes to the Okanogan County chapter of the project.