Spokane wildfires leave 700 structures destroyed, 64,000 under evacuation orders

Wildfires burning on the outskirts of Spokane in the US state of Washington for a third consecutive day have destroyed at least 700 structures and forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate, officials said on Monday (Aug 3).

According to incident officials, the cluster of three fires has become the highest firefighting priority in the United States, as dozens of major wildfires continue to burn across the drought-hit Pacific Northwest, worsening air quality across a vast region.

The fires have scorched more than 8,000 acres since breaking out on Saturday in and around suburbs on the northern edge of Spokane, Washington’s second-largest city with a population of about 230,000. The city is located near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, close to the Idaho border.

Benjamin Cossel, spokesperson for the incident command centre, said around 64,000 people were under immediate evacuation orders as of Monday, a sharp increase from about 4,000 people a day earlier.

Cossel said at least 700 structures, most of them homes and other residential buildings, had been destroyed by the fires. He added that aerial infrared surveys indicated another 400 structures, including homes, may have been damaged or destroyed, although assessments were still under way.

Authorities continue to battle the fast-moving blazes as hot, dry conditions and strong winds complicate firefighting efforts across the region.