Large numbers of residents in the city of Spokane have been told to urgently evacuate their homes due to rapidly moving wildfires in eastern Washington state.
There are three larger and fast-moving fires in and around the city, with the biggest threat coming from the Old Trails Fire. That fire started on Saturday afternoon local time and had burned over 3,500 acres by early Sunday morning, according to the Watch Duty app. Swaths of Spokane are under Level 3 evacuation orders, which read: "Leave NOW! This may be your only notice."
Late Saturday night, the Washington National Guard was mobilized to assist local first responders. "The Washington National Guard is making 30 members available tonight to Spokane authorities for any emerging needs," it said in a Facebook post.
On Saturday, Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide wildfire emergency. Ferguson said he would travel to Spokane on Sunday morning and added: "If you are in the area, please continue to be vigilant and follow directions of emergency personnel."
The three fires — named the Old Trails, Fairview and Autumn Lane — have been driven by strong winds and low humidity. "I was sitting near an elementary school and saw a wall of flames east of the school and just a cascade of black smoke and a wall of flames coming toward me," said Alexandra Duggan, a public safety reporter for The Spokesman-Review, a daily newspaper in Spokane.
The Old Trails Fire burned at Riverside State Park, to the northwest of Spokane. Overnight, Washington Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Jessica Walston told CNN that the fire was threatening up to 5,000 structures.
The city has opened its convention center as a shelter for people displaced by the fires. The city of Spokane has a population of more than 230,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Fires across the state
Maps showed dozens of fires were burning across Washington state as of Sunday morning. On Saturday, Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove said firefighters were tackling 10 large fires across the state.
Washington is in the midst of a record-setting statewide drought, leading the governor to issue a statewide burn ban on Saturday. The ban prohibits most outdoor fires, including those for trash disposal, yard debris, land clearing, bonfires, and campfires not contained in structures such as fire rings.
"Our record-setting drought and high winds are creating dangerous conditions across the state," Ferguson said.
Thousands of Washington state residents also have been hit by power outages, with almost 11,000 customers affected as of 6 a.m. local time on Sunday, according to a live map from U.S. energy company Avista Utilities, with over 8,000 of those in Spokane County.
So far this year, more than 1,000 fires have burned approximately 425,000 acres in Washington state — the most since 2021, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
"This year has already been one of our busiest wildfire years on record, and we just started August," Upthegrove said. "Our firefighters are already stretched thin across the state, and with more heat and wind expected this weekend and for the rest of the summer."
"Any new spark on our tinder dry landscapes can lead to another devastating wildfire," he added. "I'm urging all Washingtonians to not be that spark."
Northwest Public Broadcasting's Anna King and Doug Nadvornick from Spokane Public Radio contributed to this report.
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