It’s been nearly five years since Chandelle Frick and her husband drove into Malden to find the deck of their home in flames and their neighbor’s home and the entire block of houses in front of them burned to the ground.
The wind was whipping, and embers the size of dinner plates were igniting new spots as they landed.
“It was like a war zone,” said Frick, the incoming city clerk for Malden and executive director of the Pine Creek Community Long-Term Restoration Organization. “Propane tanks and ammunition were going off. The smoke was thick. It was so scary.”
Fortunately, she and her husband had arrived home in time. They each took a hose and were able to save their house. Everyone else in town had already evacuated; the volunteer fire crew had been out helping other communities when the flames reached Malden so weren’t there to help. Once the smoke had cleared – literally – 80 percent of Malden was destroyed. Miraculously, no one was injured or killed.
“Everybody in town came together and did what needed to be done,” Frick said. The only place to meet was the city park, so that’s where they gathered. There were moments of conflict and confusion, but today, the Malden community is alive and well and on the road to recovery.
“Even with everything we had to do, not once did anyone talk about unincorporating and dissolving the community. I think that says a lot,”said Micki Harnois, who stepped in as city clerk right after the fire and is retiring soon.
Call it resilience or strength or sheer stubbornness, Malden is rebuilding. And the players and partnerships that have helped are numerous and varied.
The Washington Department of Natural Resources and the City of Spokane Valley donated two new firetrucks to replace the ones that burned. The Washington Department of Commerce and FEMA helped pay off the town’s loan on the water tower that was destroyed. Money from FEMA and $400,000 in private donations helped to make the community center a reality. Teams from Western Anabaptist Ministries built a total of eight new homes in Malden, with materials and labor assistance from the Red Cross and Catholic Charities. Avista has been part of the Pine Creek recovery efforts from Day 1.
Partners for Rural Washington’s executive director Jody Opheim helped with the application for the CBDG grant that helped build the new post office, town hall and fire station as well as for the town’s new large, on-site septic system.
“It’s an honor to help a community so dedicated to rebuilding,” she said.
All together, under the leadership of Mayor Dan Harwood, Harnois and a determined town council, the community has won some $17 million in state and federal grants. Harwood was honored by the Infrastructure Assistance Coordinating Council (IACC) in 2024 with the “Creative Solutions” award.
There is still work to be done, of course. The biggest project looming is completion of the LOSSS – Large On-Site Septic System – within the next two to three years. The Environmental Protection Agency is funding the system, which is currently in the design stages.
And, regrowing Malden’s population – which dropped from 220 before the fire to just 145 today – is also a long-term goal.
But, as town council member Bob Law said, “We’ve come a long, long way.”
