SPOKANE, Wash. — Some families who lost their homes in recent Spokane-area fires are encountering an obstacle as they attempt to remove burned debris from their properties: a backlog of asbestos testing that could take months to complete.
Mountain Laboratories in Spokane Valley is the only asbestos testing lab in the area. While some have chosen to send samples out of state, the local lab is still facing increased demand. The lab has 500 to 600 samples from homes destroyed in the fires awaiting analysis.
“It’s horrific. I mean, we’re literally digging through what’s left of somebody’s house,” said Lisa Meade, laboratory manager at Mountain Laboratories…