Clean, quiet and cool appreciated

A thank-you note from a firefighter fills a whiteboard in the foyer at Nespelem Elementary School, which offered refuge from scorching daytime heat to some 235 night-shift workers on the Devil's Elbow Complex Fire, who found it impossible to sleep in their tents. The school paid two of its employees overtime to clean up walls afterward, and an outside contractor re-cleaned every carpet for $13,000 after the firefighters left. Those costs will be reimbursed from state fire fighting funds, along with $4,800 in facility usage fees. – Sheri Edwards photo