Wildfires in Spokane, Wash., Destroy About 600 Structures; Thousands Under Evacuation Orders
How left and right are reading this
- Both agree
- About 600 structures lost, tens of thousands without power, three uncontained fires, and no deaths reported — a mass evacuation that worked even as the response was outmatched.
- They split on
- Whether the story is about a state under-resourced for the fire weather it now faces, or about residents and a city getting themselves out before crews could arrive.
The Facts
- Wildfires in and around Spokane destroyed about 600 homes, businesses and other structures as of Sunday, a figure officials expect to rise once damage assessment teams reach the ground.
- The Old Trails Fire began around midday Saturday northwest of Spokane and spread into residential neighborhoods after crossing the Spokane River, driven by strong winds and high temperatures.
- Firefighters were battling three wildfires in the Spokane area, with nearly 1,000 personnel assigned and no containment reported as of Sunday afternoon.
- About 5,000 homes on Spokane's north side were evacuated; the Guardian and Bild reported authorities put the number of evacuated people in the Spokane area at about 60,000.
- Authorities reported no deaths or injuries from the Spokane-area fires as of Sunday.
- Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency and a burn ban on Saturday, with about 4,000 personnel fighting more than a dozen fires across Washington.
- The fires knocked out power to thousands of Spokane County customers, with utility outage data showing more than 30,000 Avista customers and more than 10,000 Inland Power & Light customers without electricity Saturday night.
- Officials said weather and terrain were complicating the response, with forecasters warning of critical fire-weather conditions and gusty winds, and crews concerned conditions could deteriorate later in the week.
- The Spokane fires are among dozens burning across the western United States, stretching the capacity of federal, state and local agencies, including a fire in western Idaho and eastern Oregon that has burned roughly 525 square miles of grassland.
Context
What does a 'Level 3' evacuation order mean in Washington?
Level 3 is the highest evacuation level used by Spokane-area authorities, communicated to residents as 'Go Now,' meaning they should leave immediately rather than prepare to leave NYT,Yahoo!. Large parts of Spokane County were placed under Level 3 orders, and the zones were expanded as the fire moved, including westward toward the Lincoln County line NYT,Hindustan Times,Hindustan Times.
How much land has burned, and why are the figures inconsistent?
Reported acreage varies because different agencies measured different fires at different times. Authorities cited by AP and the Guardian said the Spokane-area fires covered about 8.2 square miles (roughly 21 square kilometers), while The New York Times reported more than 5,390 acres scorched as of Sunday Aol,Guardian,NYT. Statewide totals are larger: officials described more than 250,000 acres actively burning on Saturday, and the Guardian reported about 390 square miles burned across Washington this season BBC,NDTV,Guardian.
Why did the fires spread so quickly?
State agencies attributed the rapid growth to a combination of extreme heat, strong winds and exceptionally dry vegetation, with wind gusts reported up to 45 mph on Saturday and forecast gusts of roughly 56 to 72 kilometers per hour (about 35 to 45 mph) on Sunday Newsweek,NYT,Bild. Washington is in its fourth consecutive statewide drought, and the state Department of Natural Resources reported more than 1,000 fires have burned about 425,000 acres this year, the most since 2021 Hindustan Times.
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