HUD AWARDS $450,000 IMMINENT THREAT GRANT TO SPOKANE TRIBE OF INDIANS
HUD funds will assist in rebuilding homes destroyed by this year's Cayuse Mountain wildfire

SEATTLE - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has authorized a $450,000 in HUD "imminent threat" grant to the Spokane Tribe of Indians in Washington State to assist it in rebuilding much of the housing stock destroyed or severely damaged by the Cayuse Mountain Fire in August, 2016.

According to InciWeb (http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4986/), an interagency all-risk incident management system, the Cayuse Fire started on the afternoon of August 24th when high winds pushed flames from the Hart Fire on the west side of the Spokane River to the Spokane Reservation on the east side of the River some eight miles south of the tribal center at Wellpinit. Over the next week it would consume more than 18,000 acres of tribal lands.

Some 14 homes were destroyed or badly-damaged by the Cayuse Fire. The majority did not carry homeowner's insurance primarily due to social and economic reasons and many of the homes were on well water systems and were not able to be defended once electrical power was lost and the water supply was depleted.

HUD's $450,000 imminent threat grant will be used to completely rebuild 7 homes as well as provided limited funds to assist in the rebuilding of an additional 4 homes. All of the homes are occupied by low-income residents.

"As Washingtonians have witnessed so frequently in recent summers, wildfires can destroy in just seconds what it may have taken a lifetime to build," said HUD Northwest Regional Administrator Donna Batch. "And the costs of rebuilding can be challenging to any family. HUD is pleased to be able to step forward and assist the Tribe and its members recover from the disaster that has befallen them and, over the longer-term, to help identify ways to reduce the threats and consequences of future wildfires."

The Spokane Tribe of Indians was recently selected as one of 22 Promise Zones, poverty areas in select urban, rural and tribal communities where Federal agencies "work strategically with local leaders to boost economic activity and job growth, improve educational opportunities, reduce crime and leverage private investment to improve the quality of life in these vulnerable areas." One focus of the Spokane Tribe's Promise Zone activities is to improve infrastructure, including water system and communications improvements, that in conjunction with the reestablished residences will help to mitigate the risk of wildfires in the future.

The imminent threat grant was recommended by HUD's Northwest Office of Native American Programs in Seattle after determining that the funds would address threats that "represent a non-recurring, unique or unusual circumstance" and "no funds from other tribal or Federal sources are available to address the problem."

The ICDBG Program provides eligible grantees - a Federally recognized Indian tribe, band, group, nation (including Alaska Indians, Aleut, and Eskimos), Alaska Native village, or tribal organization on behalf of an Indian tribe - with direct grants for use in developing viable Indian and Alaska Native Communities, including decent housing, a suitable living environment, and economic opportunities, primarily for low and moderate income persons.

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