More than 5,000 homes in Spokane are still under evacuation orders this morning as three wildfires threaten parts of the city. The Old Trails Fire, Autumn Lane Fire and Fairview Fire have burned more than 600 structures, according to Benjamin Cossel, the information management officer assigned to the incident. The largest of the three fires is the Old Trails Fire, which has burned around 3,500 acres and is uncontained.
When asked about casualties, Cossel said officials have not confirmed any deaths.
“We have heard rumors of that, but we don’t have any confirmed casualties, fatalities at this time, he said. “The sheriffs are starting to now take the missing persons reports, working in conjunction with the firefighters … and starting their searches there.”
Cossel said the estimates of structures destroyed could rise and that teams are on order to assess damages over the next few days. Officials do not yet know how many of the structures burned were homes.
At a press conference, Spokane Police Chief Kevin Hall urged residents who spent last night away from home to be patient.
“We understand there's consternation about your property, about your pets, that you may need medication, but we cannot allow you back into the area when it's unsafe to do so,” he said. “We will be very vocal about when it's safe for you to come back into the area.”
Lance Dahl, the city’s assistant fire chief, said his agency had 100 people and 20 rigs deployed yesterday. They were joined by crews and air support from the Washington Department of Natural Resources and other agencies. Given the extraordinary circumstances, he said it still wasn’t enough.
“I will tell you, in a wind-driven event, there is not a fire department in the U.S. that can handle a wind-driven event this size. You just don't. There's not enough staffing. There's not enough people,” Dahl said. “If you look across the western United States now and you look across Washington State in itself and how many acres are burning right now, the state resources are spread very, very thin.”
Dahl also urged residents whose homes are affected by the fires to conserve water.
“If you're leaving your house and you're evacuating, please don't turn on your sprinklers and leave them running. We're already running into water issues in some of our water towers and our pumping capabilities because we're using so much,” he said. “We have so many fire rigs in town needing water. It's putting a strain on the system.”
Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a state of emergency last night and is headed to Spokane this morning to meet with emergency responders.
Avista reports nearly 10,500 of its customers are still without power this morning. Many are in the areas most affected by fire, around Nine Mile Falls, Indian Trail and north of Five Mile. Inland Power reports nearly 2,000 of its customers are still without electricity, many in the Bigelow Gulch area.
Evacuation orders remain in place around the Old Trails, Fairview and Autumn Lanes fires. The California Interagency Incident Management Team 7 has assumed command of the Spokane Complex Fire. They have set up a Facebook page to share information and updates on the situation.