WENATCHEE — The Cold Springs and Pearl Hill fires together destroyed 104 homes and numerous secondary structures while burning 413,673 acres.
Those were the final numbers given by the incident command teams last managing the fires, Thomas Kyle-Milward, state Department of Natural Resources spokesperson, said Monday.
The Cold Springs Fire destroyed 79 residences and 60 secondary structures and burned 189,943 acres.
The Pearl Hill Fire destroyed 17 homes, one mixed commercial/residential building, two non-residential commercial buildings and 35 outbuildings, according to the Washington Fire Marshal’s Office and DNR data. The fire burned 233,730 acres.
Bridgeport is still putting itself back together, Bridgeport Mayor Janet Conklin said. Residents who lost their homes are waiting to throw away some of the debris, but they are waiting for the rubble to be tested for asbestos before Waste Management’s landfill will take it, she said.
“So, it’s a bad situation right now and winter’s moving in on us quickly,” Conklin said. “And if that stuff gets wet and nasty it’s gonna be a lot harder to deal with.”
Conklin said Monday that they were starting to separate some of the metal appliances from the rest of the debris so it could be thrown away Tuesday, before the rest of the debris is tested for asbestos.
Okanogan County residents have not needed to test material for asbestos before taking it the county landfill, Conklin said.
In Bridgeport proper, they lost three single-family residences and about 12 mobile homes, she said. A lot of people didn’t have insurance and so the town is trying to find mobile homes or trailers that people can live in for the time being.
“We can’t do it,” Conlin said. “I mean we can’t just buy one and give it to them, but we’re reaching out to all different kinds of sources to try and get something brought in.”
The town is also concerned about landslides from the surrounding hills, she said. Landslides after the fire could have an even worse impact on the community than the actual fire.
“We’ve brought in an automatic sandbagger and we’ve got volunteers putting together as many sandbags as they can and getting ready,” Conklin said.
The Douglas County Commission is also working with the state to see if some reseeding can be done to stabilize the hillsides before the snow falls, she said.
The Pearl Hill Fire hasn’t been declared a federal emergency and so federal funding hasn’t been made available for it, which has created some difficulties, Conklin said. It is probably just a matter of time, though, until it is, she said.
The cause of the Cold Springs Fire is still under investigation, Kyle-Milward said. The Pearl Hill Fire was started when the Cold Springs Fire jumped the Columbia River.
The investigation of the Cold Springs Fire has been transferred to the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office because a 1-year old boy died as a result of the fire.
Sheriff Tony Hawley has said the investigation into the Cold Springs Fire is ongoing.
