AILSA CHANG, HOST:
As we just heard, the wildfires in north Spokane were devastating. More than 900 structures burned. Tens of thousands of people had to flee for safety, but no casualties have been reported, and the fires are more than 50% contained. That said, for survivors, recovery will be a long road. KUOW's Paige Browning reports.
PAIGE BROWNING, BYLINE: It's a hundred degrees out, sauna dry and the winds are blowing around the smoky air. Bobby the cat hasn't been seen in six days. His owner is Venus Allison.
VENUS ALLISON: This is the first day that we've come back since the fire, so we wanted to see what it looked like, and we're mostly looking for our cat.
BROWNING: In terms of what it looks like, her home is gone. She already knew this from neighbors sending photos. This neighborhood was hit hard by the Old Trails fire. It's a suburban area with a lot of new development, manicured lawns, covered front porches and a view of a field. But now, public officials have described these burned areas as a war zone. Allison had monitored the fire for hours before it closed in on them.
ALLISON: And once it jumped the river, it came so fast. So we quickly packed go bags with just minimal stuff in it.
BROWNING: Houses on the block adjacent to hers are still standing, but they're covered in a blanket of pink flame retardant that was dropped in haste by fire crews.
One mile directly south, Andy McKean and his wife had been raising their kids in a quiet cul-de-sac. They were away from home when the fire started, but their 17-year-old daughter and her grandma made a mad dash to get their dog Deebo a half hour before their street got evacuated. Mere hours later, the block was decimated.
ANDY MCKEAN: We all went back not until, I think, the next day. We were able to get in and see it in the daylight, and that was pretty tough.
BROWNING: McKean says it's just overwhelming. That's a feeling that's common among fire victims right now. The house is gone. You need to find a rental. Soccer practice starts soon. You're dealing with insurance. You're going back to work.
MCKEAN: The kids have 15 to 20 friends that we know of, and there's probably more, that lost their homes. They're in a pretty terrible position, as well, so just feel terrible for everybody. It's terrible.
BROWNING: But amidst all that, these survivors are finding small ways to move forward. Venus Allison walks her torched sidewalk calling out for Bobby.
ALLISON: He's beautiful and black, and he used to be a street cat. So I have high hopes that he's going to just come meowing to us, going, where have you been?
BROWNING: She's also trying to find anything that can be recovered in the rubble of her home.
ALLISON: I wake up in a panic, remembering something else we lost. Just this morning, I remembered that I have my mom - she's 92, and she's in assisted living - I have her wedding ring with so many diamonds. I mean, had, I should say. But also, my husband and I's wedding rings burned up because we were waiting to get them resized.
BROWNING: Andy McKean is looking, too, and mourning what he's lost.
MCKEAN: There's been a couple of times that I've - something has popped into my head that the kids made. My daughter's a really talented artist, and my office was kind of a shrine to her work.
BROWNING: Both families are wondering if or when they'll be able to rebuild. They know it can take years. Some homeowners are just starting the process of assessing and clearing debris. Evacuation orders are starting to ease, but people say it's going to be a long time before things are normal again.
For NPR News, I'm Paige Browning in Spokane. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.