More than 600 Structures Consumed by Raging Washington Wildfires
The Seattle Times
(TNS)
SPOKANE — Three wildfires on the edge of Spokane exploded into massive conflagrations over the weekend, forcing more than 60,000 people from their homes and scorching about 700 structures, catapulting the disaster into one of the most destructive in Washington’s history.
Thousands of people remained without power and those who have been pushed out of their homes must find new places to stay as the Autumn Lane, Fairview and Old Trails fires raged across an estimated 8,000 acres, or 12 square miles, on the northern edges of the county.
“So to the people suffering right now, either loss or uncertainty, our hearts go out to you,” Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said at a news conference Sunday afternoon. “We will be here for the long term.”
The cause of the fires remained under investigation. About 900 firefighters from all over the country rushed to beat down flames. Airplanes and helicopters roared overhead, on their way to drop water and chemicals or pick up more resources.
Gov. Bob Ferguson said he spoke Sunday to President Donald Trump, who expressed his concern for the people of Washington during this difficult time.
All three fires sparked Saturday, under hot, dry, windy weather that the National Weather Service considered a “particularly dangerous situation” — one step above a red flag warning.
Each fire started in vegetation and within minutes surged into infernos, Spokane District 3 Chief Cody Rohrbach said. High winds spewed embers, helping two of the fires to jump the Spokane River and rip through suburban neighborhoods in a matter of hours, leaving behind a trail of untold damage.
A city on fire
Gas leaks across the city’s northern neighborhoods ignited and flared as Avista utility crews worked nearby. Water gushed from broken pipes. People sidestepped roadblocks to see smoldering remains. In some areas, only chimneys were left standing. Roofs, fences and pavement dripped red with fire retardant. Empty wheelchairs sat outside of the Brookdale Nine Mile Alzheimer’s and dementia care facility.
Jack and Kathy Cox rolled their luggage down the sidewalk of West Indian Trail Road, heading back the way they came to grab their car. They moved here six years ago from North Carolina. This marks their first evacuation. With so many people rushing to leave the city, traffic began blocking everyone’s way, they said. Not to mention finding a room to rent simply wasn’t possible due to everyone being forced from their homes.
The couple found a motel in Chewelah on Saturday night. Their home was spared.
Troy and Kelley Johnson spent Saturday night at Nine Mile Elementary in their truck. They live on Granger Road and grabbed their clothes and dog, Remi, to avoid the fire. Troy Johnson, a lifelong Spokane resident, said he spent years as a wildland firefighter, and this is as bad as he can remember since the 1991 firestorm, he said. On Sunday he reported a hot spot near his home and watched as helicopters doused the neighborhood with frequent water drops.
This is likely the most destructive disaster Spokane has ever faced, authorities said. The city is the state’s second-largest by population, in a virtual tie with Tacoma. Even more people outside of city limits have been told to leave their homes.
A year of drought
Massive and deadly wildfires are burning all across the American West right now. But in a short period of time, the Spokane fires grew into the top national priority for firefighters. Crews from all over the country are being rerouted to northeast Washington, said Tom Clemo, an incident commander assigned to the area. Resources and staffing are spread thin, especially facing much-needed and mandatory rest periods for these teams.
In recent years, communities across the West have seen an increasing number of wildfires working their way into more urban areas and tearing through homes, businesses and more. Think of the Palisades, Eaton, Lahaina and Marshall fires.
As global temperatures continue to rise, scientists have repeatedly warned that these types of majorly destructive wildfires are likely to grow more common.
This year, severe drought — Washington’s fourth in a row — set the stage, drying out the grasses, shrubs and trees that commonly serve as fuel for wildfires. As the weekend approached, state officials warned of spiking temperatures and high winds. All of these conditions combined make for the perfect ingredients for large wildfire growth, said Nic Elmquist, deputy incident commander on Clemo’s team.
At least a dozen other fires are also burning across Washington state, several of which expanded significantly over the weekend.
“This is an extraordinary wildfire season in the Pacific Northwest,” Washington Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove said. “This is not a normal season.”
In addition to hundreds of firefighters in Spokane, thousands more are working across the rest of the state. Crews and resources have been pulled in from places as far away as Alaska, Florida and even Alaska, Upthegrove said.
At the same time more than 100 National Guard members were out in Spokane to help with the effort, Adjutant Gen. Gent Welsh said. Thousands more were standing by.
700 square miles in flames
So far no deaths or injuries have been confirmed, Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall said in Sunday’s news conference. The department was investigating reports of looting, but so far all of these have turned out to be unfounded, he said.
Across the rest of the state, wildfires were burning some 450,000 acres, said Thomas Kyle-Milward, a spokesperson for Washington’s Department of Natural Resources. That’s more than 700 square miles, or about 7.5 times the footprint of Seattle.
Not only does Washington need immediate help as the wildfires continue to rage, but it will also need long-term help in rebuilding fire-scarred communities, Gov. Ferguson said during the conference. He, alongside local, state and Congressional officials, petitioned Trump’s administration for aid.
Already the Federal Emergency Management Agency has authorized using federal funds to assist with firefighting costs. But more will be needed and Trump’s administration now has a record of withholding disaster funds for Democratic states. Washington is one of 25 states suing the administration, accusing the president of politicizing disaster aid.
From the federal government, Ferguson said, the state has requested food, search-and-rescue help, housing and more.
Avista, a major utility in the region, is asking other utilities for resources, said CEO Heather Rosentrader. The electricity supplier has been turning off power in different places strategically over the past few days to avoid sparking wildfires, Rosentrader said. As far as she can tell, none of the fires around Spokane was sparked by utility equipment. At the peak, around 30,000 people had no power.
As of Sunday afternoon, that number had been cut to around 10,000 without power, most of them within Spokane, with some in the Colville area, Rosentrader said.
Dozens of crews have been scouring the region around the clock, she said, assessing damage and making repairs.
Rosentrader noted the wildfires damaged some of Avista’s transmission lines, lessening the amount of electricity the utility is able to deliver. While crews rush to fix those lines, people can help by conserving as much electricity as possible.
'Just keep praying'
Authorities expressed concern about windy conditions late Sunday allowing the fires to spread further. Those winds are expected to calm in the coming days, but that will give rise to warm, dry weather. The Autumn Lane fire has the biggest potential to spread, on the northeast side of the Spokane River, said Elmquist, the deputy incident commander.
The days ahead will hold fresh challenges and dangers.
Lifelong Spokane resident Christina Overly was working in her yard Saturday morning before her neighbors near Nine Mile Road rushed over and told her it was time to go.
She rushed to load her GMC truck and drove to Spokane Valley. On Sunday, she was reflecting about what she wasn't able to pack in the hustle.
“I just keep praying,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “Not just for me, 600 houses is a lot.”
At a Spokane shelter Sunday night, she wasn't sure yet how her family’s home had fared.
She said: “I don't want to go back and see a bunch of rubble.”
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