Wildfires in eastern Washington state forced the evacuation of 60,000 people in the Spokane area while destroying at least 600 homes, businesses and other structures, authorities said Sunday.
The fires in and around Spokane, the state’s second largest city, burned about 8.2 square miles (about 21 square kilometers) over the weekend and were among dozens of wildfires across the Western U.S. that stretched the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them.
A total of about 390 square miles (1,000 square kilometers) has burned across the state, and some of the fires, including those in the Spokane area, have not been contained.
No one hurt or unaccounted for — so far
Fire and law enforcement officials said there had been no reports of injuries or people unaccounted for — but they stressed it was early in the response effort.
Officials also said that the evacuees in Spokane included patients at its U.S. Veterans Affairs hospital.
Video from the Spokane area showed buildings on fire, black smoke billowing up near neighborhoods, and the smoking ruins of homes, with only chimneys still standing. Several officials expressed concern that the area does not appear likely to get a break in coming days from the weather, which is expected to remain dry.
“We are not out of danger,” U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell said during a news conference with federal, state and local officials in Spokane. “The next couple of days will be challenging.”
Investigators had yet to determine how the blazes started.
Grassland in flames in parts of Idaho and Oregon
Spokane was hardly the only place struggling to contain fires.
Crews using bulldozers and helicopters continued for a 10th day to fight a fire that has burned nearly 525 square miles (about 1,360 square kilometers) of grassland in western Idaho and eastern Oregon. The area is home to cattle ranches, and authorities said the fire is threatening more than 600 homes and 800 other structures.
The weather in the area was expected to remain sunny — and dry — well into the week, with temperatures rising to more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) on Wednesday. Officials say the fire was caused by lightning.
The National Weather Service issued warnings about the air quality in eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, western and central Idaho and western Montana. It issued red flag fire warnings for parts of Utah and Montana and western Nebraska, and extreme heat warnings for the southern parts of Arizona, California and Nevada and northern Montana.
High winds make it hard to fight fires in Spokane area
While temperatures Sunday in Spokane were forecast to remain below 80 F (27 C), wind gusts from 35 mph (56 kph) to 45 mph (72 kph) had been expected by the afternoon, said Benjamin Cossel, public information officer for the federal response team from California called in Saturday night to deal with the fires.
“We have weather working against us, and we have terrain working against us,” Cossel said.
There were three fires in the Spokane area: the Old Trails Fire, the Fairview Fire and the Meadowview Fire. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a state of emergency Saturday, and the National Weather Service issued a “particularly dangerous situation” red flag alert for eastern Washington.
Cossel said that as it gets warmer during the day, cool air that’s closer to the ground and keeping winds at bay will rise, allowing those winds to move through the area. The Spokane River cuts through the city of about 229,000 people, and there are steep canyons on both sides that channel the wind.
“They push the fire through the canyons, up, up the slopes, and then outside the slopes and around,” he said. “It’s very, very hilly, very, very steep slopes, a lot of canyons that create really turbulent, really challenging sort of wind scenarios.”
Spokane sets up shelter for impacted residents
Authorities in Spokane set up a shelter at the city’s main convention center. About 400 people were staying there, officials said Sunday.
Spokane County Commissioner Chris Jordan said relatives of his were in an area affected by the fires and that they don’t know if their home is still standing. He said he spoke with them as they were leaving the home.
“They’re in their car and all they can see is smoke everywhere, and it was incredibly scary for so many people,” he said during the news conference.
Heather Rosenstrater, president and CEO of Avista Corp., the area’s electric and natural gas utility, said about 10,000 people were without power Sunday, down from a peak of 30,000. Avista needs to repair two transmission lines, she said, so it’s possible that demand for electricity over the next few days could cause outages.
Meanwhile, several larger fires continued to burn in less populated areas northwest of Spokane, including one about 80 miles (129 kilometers) from the city that has burned about 210 square miles (544 square kilometers). Another fire in eastern Oregon, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) to the northwest in the Stinkingwater Mountains, has burned about 336 square miles (870 square kilometers).
“The whole northwest is heavily impacted right now,” said Keila Vizcarra, the spokesperson for the federal team from California handling what’s been named the Big Grass Fire in western Idaho and eastern Oregon.