Ferguson, Baumgartner seek meeting with Trump on WA wildfires

“Thank you again for your help with the devastating fires in our state and your personal engagement on this disaster,” they wrote. “We appreciate all that you and your team are doing to provide assistance during this very difficult time.”

They wrote that Ferguson’s staff was communicating with White House officials to see if the meeting is doable.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nearly 800,000 acres, or upward of 1,200 square miles, have burned in wildfires this year in Washington, making it already one of the worst fire seasons in history.

In and around Spokane, the state’s second-largest city, more than 800 buildings were destroyed and tens of thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate when a trio of fires erupted in early August. Other major fires have burned across central and eastern Washington, with some of the smoke descending at times into western Washington.

Ferguson earlier this month invited Trump, who he’s criticized fiercely over other issues, to tour the damage in Spokane. It’s unclear if the president responded, but Interior Secretary Doug Burgum came in the aftermath of the fires there and on the Colville Reservation in northeast Washington.

Baumgartner, a former state senator and Spokane County treasurer, said on social media that he appreciates “how responsive the White House has been to the E. Washington fires.”

“And I’m pleased at how unified both Republican and Democrat elected leaders at the Federal, state and local level have been in working to get those impacted the help they need,” the first-term congressman continued. “Much work to do.”

The state’s request for a major disaster declaration will follow a previous one Trump approved to provide federal emergency support for the eastern Washington wildfires. If approved, the disaster declaration through the Federal Emergency Management Agency will allow residents who lost their homes or were otherwise affected by the fires to get federal aid.

Ferguson and Baumgartner believe this would help thousands of Washingtonians.

“Many of those individuals have lost everything,” they wrote in their letter.

The disaster declaration would be similar to what Trump OK’ed after the historic flooding last December, which resulted in the distribution of upward of $14 million in federal assistance. In that case, it took about five weeks for the governor’s request for individual aid to be submitted.

The federal government can also provide money for governments and tribes to deal with infrastructure damage.

Ferguson last week signed an emergency proclamation to expand state assistance for fire victims.

Ferguson and Baumgartner have rarely found common ground since they both took office last year. Baumgartner even challenged Ferguson to a debate last year during the federal government shutdown.