Commissioners declare emergency for Parkway Fire

The Kootenai County Board of Commissioners has declared a state of emergency in the wake of the Parkway Fire.

Commissioners unanimously approved the emergency declaration resolution during a brief meeting Thursday.

“We saw the way and the direction that fire was going. We had residents’ lives and structures at risk,” said Tiffany Westbrook, director of the Kootenai County Office of Emergency Management. "We felt it necessary to move toward the disaster declaration due to, obviously, protection of life and property, but also the potential financial implications of some of the resources needed to help with this fire suppression."

The human-caused fire that started Friday afternoon burned 80 acres just west of Q'emiln Park in Post Falls. The park and the Post Falls Community Forest have since remained closed, but the park and boat launch are expected to re-open at 6 a.m. Saturday. The community forest will remain closed for a month. The non-burned areas of the forest may re-open sooner if possible, Post Falls City Administrator Shelly Enderud told The Press.

"We still have smoldering," she said.

Emergency declarations provide support for state and local efforts experiencing disasters or crises, such as windstorms or wildfires. They open up funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reimburse local entities as well as activate the response of intergovernmental agencies.

“We’re not sure where the expenses are going to lie, but at one point we had 14 aircraft working the fire and that’s certainly nothing that those of us working on the local level want to incur that expense," said Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Chief Chris Way.

“I don’t know what federal funding may or may not be available, but at least this will open up the door to some potential for that," he said.

The disaster declaration will help with current and future expenses, he said. Idaho Department of Lands crews are still working on some fire suppression, he said.

“The bigger thing is going to be the mitigation going forward," Way said. "Both the state and the city will have people working on that for probably several months."

Post Falls Mayor Ron Jacobson said he is thankful to everyone who worked on putting out the Parkway Fire.

"I’m so appreciative of the effort made by all the agencies that responded to that fire," he said. "I was awestruck with how quickly they went after it."

He is also grateful for the emergency declaration.

“I think that’s great," Jacobson said. "Whatever we can do."