Carlton Complex Wildfire, Pateros Washington

The last few weeks have been crazy busy. I spent last weekend moving my animals back home to a mostly burnt out barn yard. We had a small patch of trees and garden space that escaped the fire, which was where my dog pens were located. So they were able to return to a fairly normal life. The horse pen was kind of a hit and miss burnt area, since there wasn't a whole lot of vegetetaion in it the fences took most of the heat. The metal panels got a nice rusty color to them, with some serious scorch marks. Besides my horse having red smudge colored marks on his nose from the fencing he seems to be adjusting to his return home. We have found temporary living close by so it has made taking care of my animals easier, and a stress off of where we be this winter. The town is slowly getting the debris removed and homesteads cleaned up. Lots of piles of rubble and cut down trees piled up in the city lot areas. I understand that Okanogan County and the Confederated Tribes Of the Colville Reservation was granted Public Assistance as of August 12. Apparently Individual Assistance was denied, I understand our Governor Jay Inslee is working to appeal this decision. I sure hope for the individual people this happens, lots of folks without housing in very small communities. These photos are from July 20th, it took me a couple of days to even want to document the disaster. Most of them are from the Pateros area and going up towards Alta Lake. Very thankful for the PUD for their quick response on getting folks restored with power and the City of Pateros for their continued efforts to help and support the people effected by the fire. The help and support of all the volunteers and local community members can be a little bit overwhelming, but such a blessing. Very emotional time, still dealing with all that we lost, and so much that can not be replaced. Every day that we get a glimpse of the blue sky, there seems to be hope. So very tired of the smokey air and sky.