FEATURE ARTICLE Wildfires in Okanogan County, Washington: Recovery from Disaster Scott D. Furman The statements made or opinions expressed by authors in Fair & Equitable do not necessarily represent a policy position of the International Association of Assessing Officers. (Article photos are by Kristen Wall, Lifesong Photography unless otherwise noted.) he week of July 14, 2014, Wash- 4,765 privately owned parcels of land. ington state experienced the larg- It destroyed 98 single-family residences, Okanogan County, est single wildfire in its history, 96 cabins, 23 detached garages, and 93 Washington, Fact Sheet the Carlton Complex Fire, which covered miscellaneous outbuildings for a total T Population: 41,120 year-round a large area of north central Washington structure loss of $11.5 million. residents (2010 Census) state including portions of Okanogan The Okanogan County Assessor’s Of- County. The fire, caused by four sepa- fice took the lead in identifying loss Area: Approximately 3,400,000 rate lightning strikes, affected more than caused by the wildfires. The office had acres of land; 5,315 square miles; 250,000 acres of public and private land. the aerial imagery, the parcel layer largest county in the state The fire affected 4,800 parcels of pri- maps, the database identifying parcel Land ownership: Approximately vately owned land in Okanogan County. ownership, drawings, photographs 25 percent privately owned. Public The fire destroyed 322 homes, including of structures, and most importantly lands owned by U.S. Forest Service, approximately 260 single-family resi- knowledge of and familiarity with the Bureau of Land Management, Wash- dences, and more than 250 outbuild- area. This article describes how the ington State Department of Natural ings, totaling $30 million in assessed Okanogan County Assessor’s Office Resources, Washington State De- valuation loss. was instrumental in putting together partment of Fish and Wildlife, and On August 14, 2015, Okanogan Coun- the initial list of affected properties for the Colville Confederated Tribes. ty experienced yet another devastating both fire events. The office developed Terrain: Lush river valleys, tim- group of wildfires caused by multiple and implemented strategies for quick- bered mountains with freshwater lightning strikes. In aggregate, the ly and accurately adjusting values and lakes and high desert shrub steppe Okanogan Complex Fire, as it was taxes so that taxpayers knew they were not paying property taxes on some- called, was larger than the 2014 Carlton Real property: 46,000 parcels Complex fire, but because the fires did thing they had lost in the fire. Key to not merge, it is not considered the larg- these efforts was collaboration with the Assessed valuation: $4 billion est single wildfire. The four fires cov- software provider, the federal and state ered 510,000 acres, or 797 square miles, emergency management teams, and the Assessor’s office staff: 13 again on public and private lands. The county treasurer’s office. Okanogan Complex Wildfire affected FAIR & EQUITABLE • JULY 2016 3 FEATURE ARTICLE The Carlton Complex Fire Interagency Incident Management County Treasurer, Leah McCormack, After two years of severe drought, light- Team, the Federal Emergency Manage- extended the deadline for payment to ning started four separate fires in July ment Agency (FEMA) team, and the fire-affected property owners from 2014. Driven by high winds, these four Red Cross so they could do an inventory October 31 to November 31. The as- fires merged into the largest single fire for themselves. sessor’s office processed all the tax roll in the history of the state of Washington. The state and federal emergency man- corrections by the beginning of October agement teams were astonished that the and sent them to the treasurer’s office Several years previously, the Okano- for processing. gan County Assessor’s Office had been assessor’s office had not only the tech- the beta tester in Washington state for nology but also the knowledge to use it, The assessor’s office tried its best to Thomson Reuters’ new TerraScan field as well as the knowledge of the land and quickly and accurately adjust value and device. Although it took a great deal of the roads. They were very impressed taxes so that taxpayers knew they were resources and employee angst to get the with the assistance the office provided not paying taxes on something that they device working properly, the office was them and were very thankful. lost in the fire. That the office was able to able to do so. The field device was an Once the initial damage assessment meet that challenge is due to its partner- instrumental tool during the fire as ae- spreadsheet had been created, the next ship with the software provider, as well as rial imagery and the assessor’s database step was the property tax roll. Because with the county treasurer and her staff. could be loaded onto the field devices, of state law, the assessor’s office is re- Much of the credit for this goes to the enabling the appraisers to go into the quired to adjust values and thus taxes employees in the Okanogan County fire zone and identify loss by parcel. in the current year. Second-half taxes Assessor’s Office. The crew is expe- During the first week of the fire, ap- were due October 31, 2014. With the rienced and knowledgeable, many of praisers went into the fire zone and assistance of the software provider, the them having worked in the office for created the initial damage assessment office developed a process to adjust not more than 15 years. spreadsheet, identifying all structure only structure loss, if warranted, but loss. This was a critical piece of the re- also land values. All these adjustments Dealing with the Aftermath of the covery because many service providers were coordinated with the treasurer’s Carlton Complex Wildfire used the assessor’s list to verify affect- office. When a value is changed, the tax- The initial phase of dealing with the ed landowners, thus providing service es change too. Assessor staff met with wildfire comprised two parts: to those who needed it. Some people many people affected by the wildfire 1. Sending appraisers into the fire who were not affected by the fire were in the office. Some had only the shirts zones and creating the initial attempting to obtain services. This list on their backs and smelled of smoke. damage assessment spreadsheet served as a screening device for first- The office processed more than 3,800 that identifies all structure loss responders. tax roll corrections and sent them to the County Treasurer, either to issue a by parcel. Weeks 2 and 3 were spent going through new second-half tax bill or to process a 2. Creating a fast-track method for the fire zone with the Washington refund of 2014 taxes already paid. The taxpayers to obtain the destroyed Worksheets illustrate a planning process that combined improvisation and technology to overcome multiple challenges. 4 FAIR & EQUITABLE • JULY 2016 property form. Although this land within the fire zone had been neg- that timbered parcels lost more of a form was not necessary because atively affected, but by how much? percentage of their market value than of the State of Emergency de- Without any comparable sales to guide nontimbered parcels. clared by the governor, many valuation of the land after the fire, Based upon these conversations, two dif- affected landowners felt the need the office contacted county assessors ferent land adjustments were developed: to fill out the form. in other states to find out what they 1. Timbered parcels, 50 percent The fast track included the following had experienced. Staff talked with reduction in market value actions: several assessors in Colorado who 2. Nontimbered parcels, 25 percent • Creating a downloadable link for had experienced wildfires in the past. reduction in market value. the destroyed property form on Realtors, bankers, and appraisers the home pages of both Okanogan were also contacted and asked about Two different adjustments regard- County and the assessor’s office. their experience with past wildfires ing market land value were required in Washington state and about values because, due to the lack of rainfall in • Training staff on the use of the before and after wildfires. It was found Eastern Washington, it may take 100 destroyed property form, and making a stack of the forms read- Figure 1. Fire boundaries identified on a topographic map ily available in the office with an explanation cover sheet. • Preparing public service announce- ments for local radio stations informing taxpayers about the de- stroyed property form and process and how to contact the office. • Preparing public service announce- ments for the local newspapers explaining the destroyed property form and process and how to con- tact the office. • Making staff ready and available during office hours to work with wildfire-affected landowners and answer their questions. The first month was basically spent gathering all fire-related information. Once the fire was out, the office was able to obtain aerial imagery (see fig- ure 1) showing the fire zone boundary from the Okanogan County Planning Department. With the department’s help, assessment staff was able to iden- tify all affected parcel numbers within the fire zone. Handling a Disaster without a Workbook or Manual It was determined that the assessor’s office would have to adjust not only structure loss, if warranted, but also land values within the fire zone. It was apparent that the market value of the FAIR & EQUITABLE • JULY 2016 5 FEATURE ARTICLE years to grow a stand of timber. On the It seemed that this land was not worth As a result, landowners could have a other hand, nontimbered parcels recov- as much as prior to the fire, but how situation in which their market land er sooner and thus their values bounce much? There was no time to wait for value is reduced but their taxable land back more quickly.