Malden, Washington — Rebuilding After the Babb Road Fire

On September 7, 2020, the Babb Road Fire swept through Malden under extreme wind and destroyed roughly 80 percent of the town's structures, including city hall, the post office and fire station.

For a community of only a few hundred people, the loss removed much of the physical infrastructure of civic life at once. Malden had begun as a railroad and agricultural town surrounded by productive Palouse grain country; after the fire, its most urgent story became recovery.

Residents, local government and outside partners have faced the long work of rebuilding homes, services and community facilities rather than simply replacing isolated structures.

The scale of the fire explains why Malden became national news. The years afterward tell the more local story: a town continuing to decide what it wants to rebuild and preserve.