Malden residents impacted by the devastating fire last fall are able to apply for loans through the Small Business Administration until April 12.
The SBA approved a disaster declaration for Whitman County on Feb. 9, not long after the county’s request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for individual assistance was denied, Malden Mayor Dan Harwood said.
Aside from Whitman County, the declaration also includes surrounding counties such as Adams, Sutton, Columbia, Franklin and Garfield, said Cynthia Cowell, SBA public information officer.
People who qualify for loans have a chance to rebuild at a very low-interest rate. Interest rates could be as low as 1.18 percent for homeowners and renters and 3 percent for businesses, she said.
After months of inaction by Trump, Biden approves disaster assistance for Washington wildfires including Malden
Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Washington state a major disaster, approving public assistance funds requested by Gov.
Jay Inslee after blazes devastated communities across the state, including the towns of
Malden and Pine City.
Former President
Donald Trump held up the requests for more than four months over a feud with Inslee, a Democrat, despite pleas to approve the aid from
Republicans and
Yakama Nation and Confederated Tribes of the
Colville Reservation.
Malden Mayor
Dan Harwood drew a long, deep breath before expressing his relief that the wait was finally over.
Washington’s U.S. senators say they’ve asked President Joe Biden to approve a major disaster declaration for eastern Washington towns that were burned by
More than four months after a wildfire roared through Malden, Washington, the federal government still hasn t acted on the state s emergency disaster declaration.
Washington’s U.S. senators and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) say they’ve asked President Joe Biden to approve a major disaster declaration for eastern Washington towns that were burned by wildfires last fall. Those include the Whitman County town of Malden, which lost about 80% of its homes.
Then-President Trump never responded to two disaster applications from Governor Inslee. That, say Malden leaders, has kept their recovery effort in limbo. It has kept them from accessing other forms of aid. Many of the burned homes were uninsured or underinsured.
SPR s Doug Nadvornick reports.
Last fall’s wildfires were invoked Friday at a hearing for a new forest health bill in the Washington legislature.
The bill is proposed at the request of Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz, who reminded members of a House committee that 2020 was the worst wildfire season in years in Washington.
More than 80,000 acres burned, about three-fourths of that around Labor Day when high winds blew several wildfires around the state out of control. Franz said the conditions that made that week so destructive have been present for years.
“When it comes to wildfire, we cannot afford to keep kicking the can down the road, hoping that next year will be different from the last. We cannot afford to be making hope and luck our strategy to protect our communities and our firefighters, she said.