The Worst Fire in Spokane's History
On the afternoon of Saturday, August 1, three wildfires ignited in quick succession in Spokane County, Washington — the Old Trails Fire north of Airway Heights, the Autumn Lane Fire near Five Mile Falls, and the Fairview Fire near Mead — and within hours, driven by hot, dry winds, they had torn through residential neighborhoods in Washington's second-largest city in ways that fire has not since Spokane burned in 1889. By Sunday morning, more than 700 structures had been confirmed destroyed; fire officials warned Monday that the full tally, as damage assessment teams reached areas not yet accessible, could climb as high as 1,100. The Spokane Complex Fire — now managed as a single incident under a CAL FIRE team that assumed command Sunday — has burned 8,026 acres and remains 0% contained. No deaths or serious injuries have been confirmed, though officials have cautioned the count could change as crews reach areas not yet fully assessed. Sixty-five thousand people remain under evacuation orders. Spokane's Mayor Lisa Brown called it "the worst natural disaster our region has faced." She was not overstating it.
A City With a Long Memory of Fire — and a New Worst Day
Spokane's relationship with wildfire is not new. The inland Pacific Northwest has always been fire country — dry summers, seasonal winds, forests and grasslands that turn combustible by August every year. In August 2023, the Gray Fire burned 10,085 acres near Medical Lake in Spokane County, destroying 240 structures and killing one person — the largest wildfire loss in the region's modern memory until this weekend. The current fires have already destroyed three times as many structures as the Gray Fire in a fraction of the time, making the Spokane Complex the worst single wildfire event in the city's history. The speed of Saturday's destruction was what made it catastrophic: Old Trails Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach confirmed that 640 of the 700-plus destroyed structures were lost in the Old Trails Fire alone, as wind-driven flames moved through residential areas faster than evacuation orders could be communicated to some residents. Aerial footage shows block after block of foundations with chimneys standing above fields of ash — the particular image of a neighborhood that burned so fast that framing and drywall and insulation simply vanished, leaving only the brick and stone that could briefly withstand what wood could not.
The investigation into the fires' causes is ongoing — and complicated. A man has been charged with arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, Spokane County's sheriff confirmed. The causes of the Autumn Lane and Fairview fires remain under active investigation. Fifteen wildfires are burning across Washington state simultaneously, including a dangerous fire near Lake Chelan that prompted additional Level 3 evacuation orders Monday. Governor Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency Saturday, prohibiting most outdoor burning. He spoke with President Trump on the phone; Trump "expressed his support for what the people are going through," Ferguson said. FEMA support requests have been filed; recovery fund requests are underway. Monday offers the first favorable weather conditions since the fires began — cooler temperatures, lighter winds — and officials expressed cautious optimism that firefighters could "make significant gains" on containment lines. The Autumn Lane Fire remains the nation's highest-priority blaze. The people of Spokane who have been able to return to their neighborhoods have found, in many cases, what survivors of wildfire always find: the chimney, the concrete slab, the melted car in the driveway, and nothing else.
Spokane has mobilized in the way that American communities have always mobilized when catastrophe arrives without warning. The Rose Creek Longhouse is operating as a safe space for tribal members and community members displaced by the fires. Local organizations have raised more than $1.55 million in wildfire relief since Saturday. Evacuees have flooded community centers, churches, and the homes of friends and family across eastern Washington and northern Idaho. The Secretary of State reminded evacuees that they can return mail ballots to any county drop box — Washington holds a primary election this month — and that replacement ballots are available online. The people who have returned to their neighborhoods describe moving through rubble that is still warm, collecting the objects the fire left behind: a photograph frame, a piece of pottery, the metal frame of a bicycle. It is the inventory of a life made suddenly partial. Governor Ferguson, standing before reporters Monday afternoon, said: "Spokane is a resilient community. They've been through hard things before. They will get through this." Today, cooler air is coming and the firefighters are ready to use it. The city's worst fire in modern history is not over. But it may, at last, be beginning to turn.
