Hannah Swenson needs more time.
A tenants’ rights lawyer, she’s well put together, her hair tied back in a neat bun and her suit jacket unwrinkled. But the exhaustion of 16-hour days is starting to creep into her voice. It’s been a little over two weeks since the most destructive wildfires in Washington’s history began roaring along the northwest edge of Spokane. By Monday, August 17, the fires were mostly contained, but for Swenson, the crisis is just beginning.
If this were an average week, Judge Candie Dibble’s unlawful detainer docket would receive around 40 eviction filings. But this week, 138 eviction cases are set to be heard in her courtroom. The sharp increase in hearings is a direct result of the Spokane Complex fires, causing hearings slated for the worst days of the fires to be automatically rescheduled for the third week of August…