Huge fires surround Spokane, Washington — mass evacuations and outages
Three fires in and around Spokane have destroyed structures, triggered evacuations and left thousands without power.
In and around the city of Spokane, in the U.S. state of Washington, three large wildfires are raging, destroying structures, prompting mass evacuations and leaving tens of thousands of households without electricity as crews battle the flames and fires spread into infrastructure corridors.
"In Spokane, in the U.S. state of Washington, a dangerous change in wind direction has just occurred, which is visible on radar imagery, while a major wildfire disaster is developing in the area," wrote weather and climate expert Daniel Swain last night on LinkedIn. The fires remained active in the early morning hours, and Washington Governor Bob Ferguson had earlier declared a state of emergency.
The "Old Trails" fire is particularly dangerous, representatives of the Washington Department of Natural Resources said. The fire has expanded to about 3,000 acres, or more than 1,200 hectares, and has damaged several structures as it moves toward areas where communities border forests and other wild vegetation.
What is driving the spread?
Governor Ferguson pointed to record drought and strong winds as the main factors creating extremely dangerous conditions; a ban on open burning has also been imposed across the entire state. Data from the U.S. drought monitoring system show that eastern Washington has been experiencing moderate to extreme drought for several weeks, affecting about 1.8 million residents.
The National Weather Service issued air quality warnings for multiple counties due to thick smoke from the fires. Concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) can reach levels hazardous to health, especially in areas downwind of active fires in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.
Authorities warn that new waves of smoke could affect the region, including smoke transported from fires in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Local emergency alerts and social media posts reported that evacuation orders are in effect for northwestern parts of Spokane and surrounding communities.
Photo: Printscreen / X / World Source News
