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Spokane Complex Fire
Fast-moving wildfires in eastern Washington destroyed hundreds of homes and forced evacuations in the Spokane area, with Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown calling it the "worst natural disaster our region has faced." The fires, being coordinated as the Spokane Complex Fire, were burning with 0% containment and had burned 5,390 acres, according to a federal incident management team coordinating the response.
“have burned 5,390 acres and are 0% contained”
The Spokane Complex Fire includes the Old Trails Fire, which had burned 3,509 acres, the Fairview Fire at 981 acres, and the Autumn Lane Fire at 900 acres, as officials described the three-blaze grouping on Sunday.
NBC News reported that officials said 60,000 people within Spokane city limits had been evacuated, while the Old Trails wildfire alone destroyed 640 structures, according to Spokane County Fire District 3 Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach.
The Spokesman-Review said the Old Trails wildfire destroyed 640 structures Saturday and overnight into Sunday, while officials continued assessing "the potential for lives to be lost."
Evacuations, power, and winds
The National Weather Service issued a "particularly dangerous situation" red flag alert for eastern Washington, and NBC News said the elevated fire weather included north-northwest winds up to 35 mph and dry conditions that would quickly fuel flames.
NBC News reported that no injuries had been reported for any of the fires, while CBS News said the state had issued air quality warnings and that firefighters had zero containment as of Sunday afternoon.
Power company Avista implemented public safety shutoffs due to elevated fire risk, but CBS News said those had been restored by Sunday, while Rosentrater said a little over 10,000 customers were still without power as of Sunday evening.
At the peak of outages, CBS News reported that more than 30,000 were without power, and NBC News said nearly 12,000 utility customers in Washington were without power Sunday, according to PowerOutage.us.
Spokane County Fire District 3 Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach told the Spokesman-Review that the Old Trails fire had "moderated significantly," and California Incident Management Team 7 public information officer Tom Engberg said firefighters had been able to stop the advance before it moved into more neighborhoods.
Federal help and next steps
Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency Saturday, and CBS News reported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized federal funds to help fight the Sinlahekin Fire, Fairview Fire and Autumn Lane Fire.
“will be working together on additional requests for federal assistance”
NBC News said federal Interagency Incident Management Teams assumed command of the Spokane Complex Fire after federal deployment began on Friday, and it noted that Cal Fire was coordinating two national crews, incident management teams 4 and 7.
CBS News reported that Ferguson said he had spoken with President Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, and that they "will be working together on additional requests for federal assistance."
The Spokesman-Review said the Spokane Convention Center served as the main overnight shelter for 409 families, and it reported that Spokane Police staffed extra officers on patrol to combat any potential looters, according to Sgt. Terry Preuniger.
As the response continued, the Spokesman-Review said the care and recovery began yesterday and would go on as long as it needed to, while Mayor Lisa Brown told residents at a 2 p.m. news conference Sunday that the city was "still assessing the potential for lives to be lost."
