More than 700 structures lost as 65,000 evacuate in Washington state wildfires

By Linda Takahashi, Shayna Jacobs, Nollaig O'Connor and Dennis Romero

Wildfires in the Spokane, Washington, region continued burning Sunday, destroying at least 700 structures and forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate.

The three blazes, collectively called the Spokane Complex Fire, have burned 8,026 acres and are zero percent contained, according to a federal incident management team coordinating the response.

No injuries have been reported in any of the fires.

The fires are “really the worst natural disaster our region has faced,” Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said at a news conference Sunday afternoon.

The Spokane Complex Fire includes the Old Trails Fire, which has burned 3,619 acres; the Fairview Fire, which has burned 1,056 acres; and the Autumn Lane Fire, which has consumed 3,351 acres, according to federal incident management.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said the fires were caused by “a historic weather event,” as the National Weather Service called for elevated fire weather Sunday, including north-northwest winds up to 35 mph and dry conditions that will quickly fuel flames.

The Spokane Complex Fire is “the top fire in the nation,” Cantwell said.

Officials said 65,000 people within Spokane city limits have been evacuated as of Monday morning. Spokane County Fire District 3 Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach said 640 structures were destroyed in the Old Trails Fire alone.

Brown said Monday that it was unclear when most evacuees would be able to return to their homes, but that it “could be a week, could be weeks.”

Authorities have not yet determined how many of the structures damaged or destroyed are homes, businesses or schools.

Gov. Bob Ferguson said he spoke with President Donald Trump on the phone. “He expressed his support for what the people are going through,” Ferguson said at Sunday’s news conference.

Ferguson declared a statewide emergency Saturday that prohibits most outdoor and agricultural burning. He said that a request for immediate Federal Emergency Management Agency support has been made and that another request for recovery funds was underway.

Fifteen wildfires were burning across the state, consuming 250,000 acres, state Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove said at Sunday’s news conference.

He said during a Monday update, described this year’s as an “extraordinary fire season” for the Pacific northwest.

Federal Interagency Incident Management Teams assumed command of the Spokane Complex Fire after federal deployment began Friday. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, is coordinating two of the national crews — California-based incident management teams 4 and 7.

“This deployment marks a historic milestone — the first time a CAL FIRE Incident Management Team has been activated to the State of Washington,” the department said in a statement Friday.

The fight against major fires across the country is often coordinated by the National Interagency Coordination Center and staffed by personnel from a combination of federal, tribal, state, local and territorial agencies.

Brown said there were first responders in her city who have been working as many as 30 hours straight. “We are so grateful for you,” she said.

Nearly 12,000 utility customers in Washington, the vast majority of them in Spokane, were without power Sunday, according to the utility tracker PowerOutage.us.

Evacuations in Spokane County remained in effect, and a new mandatory evacuation was issued for parts of Stevens County near the Spokane River on Sunday afternoon.

Corey Hobson, a resident of the North Indian Trail neighborhood of Spokane, posted a video to Facebook on Saturday showing charred trees and blackened ground.

“Not every house was destroyed, but a lot of them were,” he said. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. I’ve lived in Spokane my whole life, and I’m 55 years old.”

Several social media posts verified by NBC News showed a sports complex with smoke looming in the background before it became engulfed in flames Saturday.

In another clip, people competed with harsh winds to set up a tent encampment on a soccer field and children entertained themselves on a nearby jungle gym.

A woman whose Indian Trail home of more than 21 years was a smoking pile of rubble told NBC affiliate KHQ that her family is safe but that children’s mementos were lost.

“Everything from their upbringing is gone,” said the resident, who gave her name as Angela.

In the same cul-de-sac, at least six houses were razed, while others appeared to stand unscathed, including the house next to Angela’s.

Around the area, evacuated residents were stunned by the scale of destruction.

In a video on Facebook, a motorist canvassed the streets of Indian Trail as fires consumed properties and cars on both sides of the road. The driver, Travis Campbell, told NBC News that he shot the video around 8 p.m. Saturday.

“I drove over to that area to see what was going on and couldn’t believe my eyes,” Campbell said.

Temperatures were 10 degrees cooler than normal Sunday, though dry conditions and winds are expected to remain. Temperatures are also forecast to rise again during the workweek.

“We will get through this,” Brown, the mayor, said Sunday.