In three weeks, Sefina Tauala will start her junior year at Shadle Park High School, where she plays on the school’s varsity volleyball team.
But on Saturday, she had a much different experience at the school. She sat in the cafeteria waiting for her parents, who were going through the resource fair at the Disaster Assistance Center.
Dozens of booths, staffed by nonprofits, insurance companies, and county and city resources, offered help with everything from insurance claims to debris removal permits and emergency housing. The center opened at noon on Thursday, and will extend its run until Wednesday, August 12.
The Spokane Complex Fires have burned more than 900 structures, leaving little more than ashes and rubble for families to return to, and forced more than 60,000 people to evacuate. Over the last few days, families have described an expensive scramble for hotels and Airbnbs.
On Sunday, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels announced that a large portion of Level 3 evacuations in the area has been downgraded, allowing some to begin making their way home. But the city’s own guidance for returning residents — wearing N95 masks, watching for toxic ash, not attempting to restore water on their own — makes it clear that many are heading into the unknown, not back to normal.
The Taulalas live just off Nine Mile Road, and like many others in Spokane, evacuated last Saturday.
A week earlier, they had watched smoke flood the air and tint their backyard orange. Neighbors packed their belongings into cars. But the family hadn’t heard about any notifications yet, Sefina Taulala said.
When they finally received the evacuation order, the family rushed to gather things and left for her grandmother’s house. She brought along some clothes, toiletries, blankets and a stuffed pink pony she’d had since childhood.
“We were hoping it would calm down,” Sefina Tauala said. But then the flames kept spreading, with how windy it was that day. “We’ve just been making it from there, trying to find living situations, because our area right now is full of smoke and ash, and we can’t really go back.”
They had to leave her grandmother’s on Monday because there wasn’t enough room. The family spent time at a hotel and are now living at an Airbnb. On Sunday afternoon, they were still looking for a next stop once their Airbnb reservation ends on Tuesday.
The family had burned through $2,200 in the past week on housing alone, Sefina Tauala’s mother, Angelique Tauala, said. That’s not factoring in food or other necessities.
“Trying to find another one to get into is next to impossible,” she said. “In fact, I’ve been checking it all day, every day.”
Angelique Tauala said the family’s mainly been looking for assistance with finding temporary housing at the center. They’ve tried the 211 hotline, Catholic Charities, the Salvation Army and city resources.
She said she wishes Airbnb would flag listings in an evacuation zone. At one point, Angelique Tauala found a place to stay only to have her hopes dashed. She’d used an Airbnb voucher Catholic Charities gave her and some of her own money to book a non-refundable stay, only to be given the address and discover that it was in a Level 3 evacuation zone.
She spent nearly three hours on the phone negotiating to get her money back.
She’s since seen other available listings in evacuation zones, figuring out their locations after contacting the hosts, which she now makes sure to do before she books.
“When these things are popping up, I’m sure people are jumping on them, thinking they have to find a place for their family to go the same way I did,” Angelique Tauala said. “And then come to find out it’s not, and you can’t even get your money back.”
Kerri Rodkey, a volunteer with Thrive International, a nonprofit that houses refugees and immigrants, spent her Saturday afternoon helping those displaced people by the fire with housing options.
Thrive is making rooms available to fire evacuees, with rooms for two to three people running for $40 a night and rooms that can house up to seven people for $65, she said.
Rodkey said she’s heard from people who are concerned about the affordability of hotel rooms and Airbnbs. There are people living paycheck to paycheck and others on Social Security who can barely afford to cover their current expenses, she added.
“A lot of people who have come by have gotten short-term emergency help from other resources, but it’s only gonna last for a week or two,” Rodkey said. “What are we gonna do when that’s over, and they can’t afford the cost of a hotel room?”
‘I don’t like to be a burden’
The Taualas are not alone in their struggle to find housing.
The first fire Willi Bessette heard about last Saturday wasn’t anywhere near his house. It was out in Omak, Washington, two and a half hours away, and his friends and family needed help evacuating. He bolted out the door, leaving his phone behind.
A Colville tribal member, Bessette was still out there when word reached him: everything back in Spokane was on fire, too. By the time he got back, the flames had swallowed his home, leaving nothing but “bare ground,” he said. His phone burned along with everything else.
He stayed with friends through the first few days, Bessette said.
“I don’t like to be a burden,” he said. He doesn’t like to ask for help, either, he added.
So for the last few nights, Bessette has been sleeping in his car. He’s waiting for his insurance to kick in. He needs new shoes, he said. The electric blue socks and hot pink slides he wore Saturday were the brightest thing in the cafeteria.
It was his first day at the center.
“I heard about it, so I’m here to see what they have to offer,” Bessette said.
More than 1,000 calls for housing assistance
Housing is by far the most common request 211 is fielding right now, said Kelli Miller, CEO of Frontier Behavioral Health, which serves as Eastern Washington’s 211 provider.
Miller said Washington 211 and Airbnb.org, Airbnb's nonprofit arm, are partnering to provide “free temporary housing credit” for people displaced by wildfires. The length of that free stay varies by family, as voucher size depends on household needs like how big a family is, which can impact how much space it needs.
Between August 4 and 8, the hotline received more than 1,200 calls related to wildfires, with almost nine of 10 calls seeking temporary housing. The vast majority were successfully connected to assistance, according to Miller.
“What we are hearing most commonly is people are able to secure a voucher for several nights’ stay,” Miller said. “Resources are changing all the time, so we encourage people to call, see where you’re eligible.”
Like the Taualas, Joel and Princess Francisco are burning through cash for a place to stay.
The Franciscos know their house is still standing. But when they were first evacuated, they had to drive all the way to Colfax, Washington, about 60 miles south of Spokane, to find an Airbnb.
“We can’t find any hotels available in the Spokane area,” Joel Francisco said. “We went to Cheney, Medical Lake, we called Idaho, we called Spokane Valley — (they were) fully booked. That’s the only thing that we can find.”
They’ve stayed at three different hotels in Spokane because they weren’t able to book more than a couple of nights at each place. Since August 1, Princess Francisco estimates that the family has spent around $5,000 on housing alone. She said they’d received a $1,600 Airbnb voucher toward that stay, but had also paid an additional $4,000 out of pocket.
As of Saturday, they were staying at the Courtyard by Marriott downtown, and said they’d arranged an eight-day stay at another Airbnb through 211 for after they checkout on Sunday.
In the almost three decades that he’s lived in Spokane, Joel Francisco’s never seen anything like this, he said.
“Be focused on trying to save money while you can,” he said. “Because you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Still waiting
Next month, Sefina Tauala will take the court for the volleyball team in the same gym where the community is seeking help. Her mother had ordered her new shoes and equipment ahead of the season, which were sent back because of the evacuation, she said.
Her birthday is coming up too, though she said she's already decided to push back celebrations.
"It's the least of our worries," she said.
Despite Sunday's evacuation zone updates, the Taualas still can’t go home — they live in an area that remains under Level 3.
They also haven’t managed to book another Airbnb yet, but Angelique Tauala said she hoped that more listings would open up as the county downgrades evacuation levels in other areas.
“I’m so glad to hear that a lot of people are able to return and have utilities and power and gas,” she said. “But to still be in a Level 3 is hard to hear.”
