Spokane wildfires destroy hundreds of buildings, force thousands to flee
About 60,000 people were ordered out as Spokane-area fires burned at least 640 structures and pushed Washington into a statewide wildfire emergency.
Thousands of residents fled Spokane-area neighborhoods as wind-driven fires destroyed at least 640 structures and prompted evacuation orders for about 60,000 people across eastern Washington. The Old Trails Fire had grown to about 2,500 acres by Saturday evening, with damage concentrated in dense neighborhoods on Spokane’s north side.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide wildfire emergency and imposed a burn ban through September 30 after the fires spread. Ferguson later traveled to Spokane with Department of Natural Resources Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove for a briefing on the state response, as smoke spread far enough for the National Weather Service to issue an air quality alert for Spokane County and several neighboring counties.
The crisis did not arrive without warning. Spokane County posted a red flag warning from the National Weather Service on July 16 for Eastern Washington, and KREM had already reported on July 8 that a wildfire west of Newman Lake triggered evacuation orders in Spokane County. That earlier fire showed how quickly flames were moving through the region before the larger outbreak pushed neighborhoods in northwest Spokane and beyond into evacuation mode.
The scale of the destruction also raised fresh questions about how much preparation the region had in place before the flames hit. Local coverage said officials were still assessing losses and expected the final structure count to rise. Reuters reported that wildfires across more than a quarter million acres in Washington cut power and forced widespread evacuations in the Spokane area, underscoring how one fire cluster can ripple through housing, utilities and emergency services at once.
The fire history around Spokane is long. First Street’s wildfire risk data for Spokane County recorded 14 wildfires near the county between 1984 and 2021, and it said 1,346 buildings were affected by wildfire in August 2023. The Great Fire of 1889 remains the city’s defining fire precedent, but the current losses show that even a much larger modern city can still be overwhelmed when wind, fuel and geography line up.
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