High fire weather threatens Spokane area after devastating wildfires
Due to toxic air and fire starts, Spokane officials say it could be weeks before evacuees can return home. The fires have destroyed at least 850 buildings, mostly homes.
Dry conditions and powerful winds fueled a fast-moving wildfire that devastated parts of the Spokane, Washington, area on Aug. 1.
After making progress on the Spokane fires, crews will face high fire weather through the weekend, raising the risk of additional wildfire growth and new ignitions just days after fast-moving fires devastated neighborhoods around Spokane, Washington.
The dangerous conditions come after the Old Trails, Autumn Lane and Fairview fires erupted around Spokane on Aug. 1, burning about 10,500 acres and damaging or destroying at least 850 structures. A 37-year-old man was arrested on Monday and accused of starting the Old Trails Fire.
[More wildfire coverage: Before-and-after images show Spokane neighborhoods transformed by wildfires | Check your local air quality]
Dry conditions, very low fuel moisture and locally gusty winds will maintain a very high wildfire risk across parts of the region through the weekend and into next week, AccuWeather meteorologists said. Temperatures will remain in the 80s, 90s and 100s F across much of the West, and meaningful rainfall is not expected.
Smoke from large fires in Washington and Oregon will also continue to create hazardous air quality across parts of the interior Northwest through the weekend and into next week. Eastern Washington and Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are among the areas where thick smoke and hazy conditions can persist.
Jim Zimmer (L) hugs his wife in front of the remains of their home which was destroyed in the Old Trails Fire on August 6, 2026 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The high fire weather comes as thousands of Spokane and Stevens County residents are waiting to return to their homes, or search through what’s left of them. Roughly 67,000 people were ordered to evacuate at the height of the emergency, and thousands remained displaced this week.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowells said they have been getting “angry” feedback about the level 3 evacuation zones still in place.
“It may appear that we are not leveraging the need for our public to get back into their homes, it may appear to them that their houses and their neighborhoods are safe, and they cannot see any good reason that they cannot come back home,” Nowells said. “I understand for their life to be turned back to normal when their life has been turned upside down.”
Nowells said the reason for the continued evacuations is twofold. New fires are starting within the evacuation zones as firefighters continue to try and cool down hot spots. Additionally, the crews within these zones are wearing full protective gear and self-contained breathing units because of the hazardous materials in the air.
“When they are inhaling these kinds of toxic fumes and substances that are airborne, it might not be fatal immediately, but it can cause serious health risks and deaths down the road.”
Nowells said fire crews have seen citizens within these areas, and he is urging them to stay away. He estimated it will be weeks before residents can return home safely.
“Those burn areas are absolutely not safe for people to be in,” the sheriff said.
Firefighters and first responders wait in line for dinner at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center which is being utilized as a base camp for firefighters on August 5, 2026 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The Spokane Area Fires are being managed under the California Interagency Incident Management Team 7 as more than 7,000 responders from 12 states and Australia are working the fires across eastern Washington.
Hundreds of homes destroyed, pets still missing
Spokane County officials said about 850 structures have been impacted, most are residential homes. Officials said aerial surveys show the total could be more than 1,000.
There are no reported deaths or serious injuries from the fires. All 14 of the unaccounted people have been located, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.
Some evacuees have started to return to the Old Trail Fire area to find their homes in ashes, and recover the bodies of pets. Many pets are still missing.
Volunteers put out cat food and water for lost animals during the Old Trails fire in Spokane, Washington, on August 4, 2026. Emergency crews on Tuesday were racing to contain flames in the US Northwest, where a man was arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the largest of the fires that have displaced tens of thousands. (Photo by Josh Edelson / AFP via Getty Images)
SpokAnimal Director Dori Peck said the Humane Society shelter is housing pets waiting to be reunited with their owners. Some reunifications have happened quickly because of microchips.
"We had a cat come in today, and we were able to reunite within an hour because the kitty had a microchip," Peck said on Wednesday in a Facebook video.
Cellphone video captures a couple and their two dogs fleeing the Mitre Rock Fire by boat in Fruitland, Washington, on Aug. 2, as wildfire smoke and flames spread near the water.
Spokane Deputy Fire Chief Kris Maynard described the devastation caused by the rapidly advancing flames.
“It’s a fire that just moved quickly as our crews went in,” Maynard said. “It’s something that hadn’t been seen before because of our dry conditions that we’ve had, but these winds that came through here quick. Firefighters were rushing through there, mainly just trying to save lives while also trying to save homes.”
Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide wildfire emergency Saturday and imposed a ban on outdoor burning through Sept. 30.
Satellite images showing Spokane, Washington, on July 31, 2026, before the wildfires, and on Aug. 2, 2026, after fires burned through part of the city. (Planet Labs PBC)
Satellite images captured by Planet Labs on July 31 and Aug. 2 showed the dramatic burn scars around Spokane due to the wildfires.
What caused the rapid wildfire growth?
Lightning sparked many fires burning across the Northwest, while additional dry thunderstorms could ignite new blazes with little or no rain, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center and AccuWeather meteorologists.
A combination of prolonged drought, extremely dry vegetation, low humidity and powerful winds created an environment in which fires could spread rapidly.
University of Oregon Fire Ecology and Restoration Forestry Expert James Johnston said for the Spokane wildfires, this combination is also happening in a large urban area.
“It's not unusual at all to have a wildfire when you have hot, dry, windy conditions, fuel and an ignition,” Johnston said. “What's really unusual in this case is that we have all of those things converging right next to a large urban area.”
“Unfortunately, that fast-moving wildfire is throwing a bunch of embers well ahead of the fire, and those are igniting material in roofs and gutters and in people's yards, and so we have a fast-moving structure fire in addition to a wildfire,” Johnston said. “It's a really terrible situation.”
Additionally, wildfires across the Northwest are creating "dangerous" and "very unhealthy" air quality across the region.
AccuWeather future smoke forecast for Friday, Aug. 7, 2026 in the Northwest.
The National Weather Service issued a rare “particularly dangerous situation” Red Flag Warning Saturday for parts of central and eastern Washington, including the Spokane area. Westerly winds reached 20-30 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph.
Washington is experiencing its fourth consecutive statewide drought. More than 1,000 fires had burned approximately 425,000 acres across the state by the beginning of August, the most acreage burned since 2021, according to state officials.
Fox said a very warm winter with no snowpack has contributed to the fire activity.
"We did not have the snowpack that we normally have, and so at this point, you know, we're here on the 3rd of August, and in terms of fuel load and fuel condition across the landscape. We're actually about six weeks ahead in terms of conditions," Fox said in an interview. "Where we're at today are conditions we normally see at the end of August or into September. So we're very concerned that not only are we under heightened risk, we're also potentially looking at fires well into October."
Mostly dry weather into the middle of August could further worsen drought conditions and keep wildfire danger elevated across the region.
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