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Spokane Remembers Anniversary of "Firestorm '91"

Bureau of Land Management of Oregon and Washington

It was 25 years ago this Sunday that the Spokane area experienced its greatest loss due to fire since the Great Spokane Fire of 1889. The event was called Firestorm '91.

Firestorm '91 began on an October day when 60 mph winds knocked down numerous power lines and spawned several different fires.

The first alarm was received at 8:45 a.m. near Spokane International Airport, and within three hours, every firefighting resource in Spokane County was called into service.

The fires were widespread and included the Chattaroy area, a residential neighborhood on the south end of Spokane, and northwest of Spokane near Nine Mile Falls.

Four Mound Prairie resident Larry Edmonds commented, “And you didn’t know--you know they had evacuation orders, but you didn’t know.  I mean, the power lines were down, and the phones didn’t work, you know.”

Edmonds had received a urgent call from his wife to return home from work after the school district called and said the fire was in their area. When he arrived at his small farm,  he found his wife had packed up some important documents and photos and was waiting for him in the driveway.

In the howling wind that was filled with dust and smoke and bizarre brownish light from a mostly obliterated sun, Edmonds watched the scene unfold.

“And about that time, here comes the fire across the field, and we're sitting here watching it as it jumps the road. So we boogie back home, and I had about 20 head of mules and horses in the woods. This is not good. And so as we're going home, the old draft horses had broken the gate down and were walking home on their own. They were coming single file down the road, came in the driveway, came in the gate, and went in the hay barn.”

With his animals now contained, Edmonds grabbed a shovel and went down the road to assist others in fighting flames that were threatening the neighbors. Luckily his farm was spared from the flames.

Very close by,  Bonnie Cobb was protecting her two young children as she witnessed the fire nearing her home.  She remembers, “But of course the fire had jumped the line and came up the embankment, which is a pretty steep rocky hillside. And then we got to watch it jump over the top of our home.  It landed about 120 feet on the top of the hill and took out our haystack and two garages.”

Cobb's home was not damaged.

Other were not so lucky. 114 area homes were burned to the ground, and two people died. It was estimated there were a total of 92 separate fires sparked that day.

But there were some good outcomes out of the tragedy.

Bonnie Cobb, who is now a Fire Commissioner with County Fire District Five, says communication between different agencies has improved.

“Now the mutual aid is phenomenal.  Compared to back in 1991, I don’t think it was quite as strong as it is now.  The communication among Spokane County is fantastic. Every fire department is there for the other fire departments, and it's just phenomenal what the fire departments do for each other.”

Larry Edmonds says he and others learned to be ready for the unexpected to take place. “I mean do you have all your papers together? Do you have an evacuation plan? All this basic stuff that we all talk about doing--but do we have it done? Firestorm is an excellent tool, I mean it was a terrible thing that happened. I worked natural resources for forty years and learned one thing: Mother Nature always bats last...”

Both Avista Utilities and Inland Power paid an out-of-court settlement when it was determined that downed power lines caused the fires. Both utilities worked to ensure that many of their rural power systems then went underground, rather than on poles that could pose a fire hazard if downed.

Steve was part of the Spokane Public Radio family for many years before he came on air in 1999. His wife, Laurie, produced Radio Ethiopia in the late 1980s through the '90s, and Steve used to “lurk in the shadowy world” of Weekend SPR. Steve has done various on air shifts at the station, including nearly 15 years as the local Morning Edition host. Currently, he is the voice of local weather and news during All Things Considerd, writing, editing, producing and/or delivering newscasts and features for both KPBX and KSFC. Aside from SPR, Steve ,who lives in the country, enjoys gardening, chickens, playing and listening to music, astronomy, photography, sports cars and camping.