‘Overwhelming amount of damage’: Fight ongoing against Spokane fires

Firefighters were still battling Monday to gain control of wildfires that tore through residential areas in and around Spokane over the weekend.

The three fires that are part of the Spokane Complex have burned more than 8,000 acres, according to figures updated Monday morning. Initial estimates indicate around 700 homes and other buildings had burned. No deaths were reported as of midday Monday.

“Our priority right now is we have a firefight going on,” Tom Clemo, incident commander with California Interagency Incident Management Team 7, said late Monday morning. 

He noted the Autumn Lane Fire, which has burned more than 3,000 acres, was especially active late Sunday and into Monday, and said “tens of thousands” of structures remained threatened.

Clemo said aerial imagery showed as many as 1,100 structures may have been destroyed. But he emphasized that figures are preliminary and there are “large question marks about the total loss.”

“The next week or so are going to be extremely difficult as we start to grasp the overwhelming amount of damage that has been done in this community,” said Clemo, whose team is now leading the fire response in the Spokane area.

More than 65,000 people were told to evacuate from areas in and around Spokane. Mayor Lisa Brown said “it could be weeks” before some people can return to their homes or property. “It’s neighborhood by neighborhood and block by block,” she said.

Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said his agency received around 290 calls concerning people the department wanted to locate as the fires and evacuation efforts unfolded. They were able to account for all but 14. He emphasized that the remaining 14 people were not necessarily missing and that the department is still trying to reach them.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service advised western Washington to prepare for temperatures in the 80s to 90s and poor air quality in the days ahead, as smoke from wildfires is expected to drift into the region from eastern parts of the state and Canada.

Statewide, at least 17 major fires are burning across 262,000 acres, Washington Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove said Monday. He said that 5,000 people are involved in fighting the blazes.

On Monday, the state’s entire congressional delegation — 10 Democrats and two Republicans — wrote to President Donald Trump, urging him to approve Gov. Bob Ferguson’s request for an expedited emergency declaration in response to fires burning in multiple counties.

Ferguson, a Democrat, praised the responsiveness so far of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Trump administration. He said state officials met with FEMA representatives Monday morning and that the federal agency was already moving additional resources into the state.

The initial FEMA assistance could include search and rescue, debris removal, medical supplies, temporary shelter and generators.

Maj. Gen. Gent Welsh, adjutant general of the state’s National Guard, described seeing burned sections of the Spokane area that resemble a war zone. “Some of these folks may not recover,” he said. 

“We are still in the fight,” he added. “There’s still a lot of danger.”