All of Washington state is on inferno alert as wildfires continue to burn
- More than 50,000 acres burned across the northwestern state this weekend
- The state’s largest wildfire, Spokane County’s Gray Fire, is still spreading
- One person died as thousands were evacuated from two northeastern counties
Terrible wildfires that have killed one person so far continue to rage across Washington state, with more than 20,000 acres of land burned this weekend.
The entire Northwest state remains on alert, while the largest park area — Mount Spokane State Park — has been closed to the public as fire departments struggle to contain the inferno.
A map
In eastern Washington’s Spokane County, the largest wildfire has burned 10,892 acres of land, destroying nearly 200 buildings and killing at least one person, while thousands evacuated the danger zone.
The fire — known as the Gray Fire — started around noon on Friday on the west side of Medical Lake, about 15 miles west of Spokane. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources warned that the fire is still spreading.
In an update on Sunday, the department warned that despite the efforts of the fire department, the fire was still “0%” contained and was eating up more land to the southwest.
This map shows how many fires are burning in eastern Washington and western Canada. All of Washington is currently on some kind of wildfire alert
A clip from a TikTok video shows the Gray Fire burning in eastern Washington on Saturday. The fire killed at least one person and destroyed nearly 200 buildings
Another snap from the same video shows a classic Pacific Northwest backdrop of Douglas firs and water – albeit shrouded in smoke and flames
This Washington State warning shows that the entire state is currently under some form of wildfire warning
This graphic shows much of the Spokane Valley in eastern Washington that has been warned to prepare for an evacuation as wildfires continue to burn
“There are still many dangers in the burned areas,” said a spokesman for the department. “Bleeding natural gas lines, falling trees, etc.”
In addition, 27 smaller wildfires covering a total of 10,000 hectares are raging in scattered locations across the state.
Traffic officials said thick smoke was the biggest challenge for emergency services because visibility was so poor they couldn’t deploy air resources in many areas.
Huge plumes of smoke are billowing over Spokane County as fumes from Canada’s wildfires raging just over the northern border are compounding the problem.
Level three evacuation notices are in place in Spokane County and Ponderay County to the north, which has a combined population of about 560,000.
An eerie photo shows a street disappearing in the yellowish-grey smoke created by the fire
Meanwhile, Washington state’s longest freeway, I90, has been closed for more than 24 hours because of the fires and people are being advised to exit the freeway via alternative routes.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said the fires were a result of climate change and urged residents to “play it safe” by listening to emergency responders.
“As these fires rage through Spokane County, we want to thank the first responders who are doing such a great job in coordinated action – thank them when you have the opportunity… We will continue to help in any way we can.”
“This is so problematic, and there’s a certain irony in that I’m at a conference about tackling climate change and the fires are being caused by that.”
“Let’s think of the people of Spokane and also during recovery – stay safe.”
Air quality in Spokane County has reached an index of 349 – which is in the most extreme category of “hazardous” for anyone who breathes the air.
A healthy AQI would be between 0 and 50.