Spanish speaking Spokanites find help navigating wildfire situation

From Spokane Public Radio, it's SPR News Today. I'm Doug Nad Vornick. This is Tuesday, August 11, 2026. Washington's governor says he's doing several things to help the state recover from wildfires. We'll hear some of what he said yesterday in Spokane. More steps forward as Spokane firefighting teams continue to make progress, we'll hear about two examples of organizations stepping forward to fill the needs of wildfire evacuees. And Monica Carrillo-Cas tells us about efforts to help Spanish-speaking people in Spokane navigate the wildfires and evacuations. Those stories and more coming up on SPR News Today. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson was in Spokane Monday afternoon to talk about the next steps for those who have been impacted by the wildfires. The state has already requested and received some federal disaster assistance. Ferguson says his office is working with local, county, and state partners to file for a federal major disaster declaration. That would unlock significant financial assistance for individuals and municipalities. The request is a major undertaking. is a lot of work in a very short period time and requires local governments to detail the damage to individuals and to those municipalities in their areas. Ferguson says these declarations are not always granted, but he says Washington is determined to make a compelling case for that money. He says the state will also use its existing powers to help people as well. Washington State has an important program called the State Individual Assistance Program for individuals who have lost their homes during a declared emergency. My emergency proclamation makes everyone without insurance. who lost their home eligible to receive this assistance regardless of their household income. The changes cover 10 counties in tribal nations as more than 20 large fires burn around the state. By putting some enforcements on hold, the governor says this will help people more easily replace their identification, their licenses, their health documents. The proclamation also aims to allow health care providers to stand up more services and prevent people from being evicted. You can read more about the governor's press conference at Spokanepublicradio.org. Spokane wildfire officials continue to lower the evacuation levels for some areas around the most dangerous zones. Some of the latest areas to move to level one or be ready include the area bounded by Rudder Parkway and Pacific Park on the north, Francis, Wiley and Kathleen Streets on the south, the Spokane River on the west, and division on the east. There are still two major areas remaining in level three, one mostly to the north and east of nine mile falls in both Spokane.

and Stevens counties. The second includes rifle club road to the west between the Dwight Merkel Sports Complex and the Spokane River. The organizers of the Spokane Resource Fair for wildfire evacuees have adjusted the event's hours. The fair will now be open from 9 to 5 instead of 9 to 6 at Shaddle Park High School today and tomorrow. Those are the last two days for the events. And Spokane Public Schools will continue its free day camp for children 4 and older from 11 until 3 again through Wednesday. Free lunches will be provided. The team leading the Wildfire Suppression Project in Spokane is holding a series of community meetings. meetings this week. The first to talk about the Fairview Fire happened last night at the Union Events Center in Meade. There are two meetings to talk about the Old Trails Fire, one tonight at 6, one Thursday night at 6, Shadal Park High School. And there are two to talk about the Autumn Lane Fire. Tonight at 6 at Lakeside High School and 9 Mile Falls, and tomorrow at 6 at Meade High School. If you cannot attend in person, there are virtual options, including the Spokane Fire's Facebook page. Avista says it has restored natural gas service for more than 2,500 customers in former wildfire evacuation areas. It's about halfway to its goal. And the utility's vegetation management teams are downing and removing trees in areas burned by the fires, especially along Highway 291. One of the many inconveniences for Spokane wildfire evacuees has been the lack of access to wardrobe. For professionals who are expected to look a certain way, this has been a problem. Two organizations have stepped into help. Spokane Business Association members recently donated several trailers and truckloads of business attire. That was delivered on Sunday to the Wildfire Recovery Center at Shaddle Park High School. The second organization, Dress for Success, Seattle, is targeting women. women with its wardrobe to go kits. People still have to go to work. They still have to apply for jobs. They still have to go to the interview. And we want to ensure that that. Women in Spokane have what they need to continue to rebuild after this incredible tragedy. That's Chief Executive Malia Rosiah, who says her company is pulling from its stockpile to create collections that are tailored to individual women. She says women can visit her company's website and choose the type of clothes they need, and then a kit will be assembled and shipped to one of three BECU locations in Spokane where the rest of... recipients can pick them up. And a Spokane nursery that cares for drug addicted infants and their parents is opening its resource center to people displaced by wildfires. Maddie's place operates Maddie's closet. Family and workforce specialist Amanda Albert says the center has supplies for infants, clothes, bottles, diapers, and pacifiers, but it also has things that families need. So we like to have items available for them to start making meals.

and preparing at home. So pots, pans, silverware, plates, dishes, all of those kinds of items. Anything really that someone for their first time in an apartment might need in order to kind of make that house more a home. Maddie's closet will be open this week for displaced families. It accepts new and gently used donations from the community on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Crews continue their work on the two fires burning in the Poulouse. The Wells Road fire has been downgraded to about 1,800 acres from 2000. It's considered 30% contained. A level 2 evacuation remains in effect from Malden and a level 1 for Rosalia. And the Palluse River fire near Colfax is 80% contained. It is charred a little more than 600 acres. And to the north and west of Spokane, the Hudsmith fire burning near Fruitland is about a third contained. It's burned about 6%. 6,500 acres on the east side of the Columbia River. It's across from the Modrite fire, which is burned for a few weeks in Stevens and Ferry counties. That's about 60% contained. That's also roughly the containment level for the state's largest fire, Kaiser Canyon, which is at 138,000 acres on the Colville Indian Reservation, a few evacuation levels have been lowered there in the last day or two.

Residents in Spokane are feeling the impacts of still burning fires that raised hundreds of homes and forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate. For some residents, emergency information in Spanish has been a lifeline. As Monica Carrillo-Cas reports, Latino-led community organizations are filling that role while people deal with the losses. On a hot afternoon, the first Saturday of this month, Heidi Solis's children were playing outside when she went to check on them. Then she noticed smoke moving quickly towards their Spokane home. Solis opened an app on her phone that tracks fires. She saw flames had jumped to just blocks away. Yeah, they're going to ashes. And the humor was falling on us, and the smoke was getting closer to us. She and her husband quickly gathered their three-year-old daughter and five-year-old son. grabbed a handful of clothes, and packed two photos of the kids. They sat trapped in traffic with a nearly empty tank of gas. They could see the smoke whirling behind them, and then... The houses in front of us started to explode. As they got out, Solis held on to hope that their home would be spared, but when she returned the next day, she found everything they owned had been reduced to ash. Their home was among more than 850 buildings in the Spokane area to burn down in a series of fires. Solis has been turning to Spanish language resources to get help and figure out what's next. Latino-led community organizations have stepped in to reach people like her directly. KYRS is a small community radio station operated out of a library. Its one Spanish language program has become a lifeline for residents impacted by the fires. On-air hosts Rafa Samora and Samantha Peralta move quickly, trading updates, repeating phone numbers, and making sure listeners don't miss critical information. When the microphones turn off, the pace doesn't slow down. They scan messages, compare notes, and adjust their next segment in real time. We need and we need and deserve to be informed about everything that is happening in our own language. As far spread across Spokane, Zamora tripled the airtime for the show, El Puente la Vos Latina, or in English, the bridge the Latino Voice. It's the only local program of its kind for over a hundred mile radius. Zamora says he's working closely with Latino-led community organizations to connect people with resources, groups like Mujeres in Action, Latinos in Spokane, or Nostraises. At a warehouse office near downtown Spokane, tables are lined up with fuzzy blankets, diapers, masks, and other necessities.

Nostraiza's operations manager, Isabel Mascot, says the organization began doing Facebook live updates to reach people. One mom came in with her six-month baby, the very first hour that we opened on Monday since we went live on Facebook. And she was here. She lost everything, so she needed some diapers, and we were able to give that. Solis, another mother who evacuated with her kids right ahead of the fire, says, Natcha Zhaises connected her with a counselor so she could help her children understand what happened to their house. We have to talk to them and tell them, you know what? Now our home is us. Solis and her husband own Los Aveneros, a Mexican restaurant in North Spokane. She says their days are filled by keeping the restaurant open and trying to give her kids a sense of normalcy. It's at night when she finally has the moment to sit with her thoughts that the reality of losing her home sinks in.

No, yeah no, yeah no, I regress. Solis says she wishes she could go back to her house, but there's no going back anymore. Having help from the community is what has helped her maintain hope. Monica Carrillo-Casas reporting. SPR News Today is a production of Spokane Public Radio. Reporting today was contributed by Lisa Lineberger, Audrey Nelson, Anna Marie Yanni, Monica Carrillo-Cossis, and me, Doug Nad Vornick, today's host and producer. We thank you for listening. This is SPR News.