VIDEO: Washington state is asking the federal government to declare the destroyed railroad trestle and bridge near Prosser a major disaster.
The fierce wildfire in September consumed the 100-year-old trestle spanning the Yakima River.
The state made the appeal this week to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in order to get money to rebuild what it says is a “critical” bridge, according to the Washington State Short Line Railroad Coalition. “I request that you declare a Major Disaster for the state of Washington as a result of severe drought and the extensive damages incurred by extreme fire behavior and straight-line winds beginning September 1 through September 19, 2020,” wrote Gov. Jay Inslee.
“... Firefighters were focused on saving lives and people’s homes and were not able to save the structure. ... The historic bridge was used as a critical transportation corridor to ship agricultural products in the region,” he wrote.