Washington state fires scorch neighborhoods
Spokane, USA—Wildfires supercharged by drought and intense heat tore through the northwestern US city of Spokane, forcing the evacuation of 65,000 people and reducing hundreds of buildings to cinders as firefighters raced on Monday to contain the flames.
Aerial flybys revealed somewhere between 700 and 1,110 structures have been lost since the fires broke out over the weekend, authorities said.
Anxious families awaited news about when they could return.
Three fires have combined to burn 3,248 hectares (8,026 acres) in the Spokane area of Washington state, according to InciWeb, a federal interagency information system, with firefighters making use of cooler temperatures, higher humidities and thick smoke to make “significant gains” against two of them.
Local officials said so far no one has been reported hurt.
Cooler temperatures were expected Monday and Tuesday, though the respite will be brief, with a warming trend resuming midweek that will raise temperatures into the mid to high-90’s Fahrenheit (mid-30s Celsius) with relative humidity in the lower teens.
Video of the fire aftermath on Sunday showed scores of homes burned to the ground, with only their brick fireplaces and foundations remaining, while other houses nearby escaped practically unscathed.
“Just driving around looking at the homes — it’s just one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen in my life,” Spokane resident Geoff Beadles told Agence France-Presse (AFP), after evacuating with his fiancee and two dogs.
More frequent fires
Authorities are attempting to make contact with 14 people whom they have failed to reach by cell phone but are not yet presumed missing, Sheriff John Nowels told a press conference on Monday.
“I think the estimate is potentially up to 65,000 people we had to move out of these areas, and if you think about what that entails, the fact that we were able to get people out of those areas within several hours in an active fire zone is pretty incredible,” said Nowels.
Mayor Lisa Brown said authorities were combing the city block by block to assess damages and potential reignition, and couldn’t tell people yet when they could return home.
“It could be weeks, depending on where your home and property is,” she said.
“I think from a historical standpoint, this is likely the worst natural disaster in Spokane’s history,” Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson added.
Ferguson declared a state of emergency on Aug. 1, citing drought conditions that have stretched four consecutive years, unusually high temperatures and high winds exacerbating record-setting wildfires.
Human-caused climate change is increasingly creating conditions for more frequent and intense wildfires, through increased heat, extended drought, and a “thirsty” atmosphere that enhances the drying of organic matter.
