Forest wildfires spanning more than one million acres across Washington State have forced authorities to carry out widespread evacuations and caused power outages across the Spokane area, state officials announced late yesterday (local time).
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Uncontrolled fires in Washington: 4,000 firefighters deployed, evacuations underway
More than 4,000 firefighters have been mobilized to battle the blazes, working around the clock to contain at least 10 active fire fronts across the state. The devastating scale of the disaster and ongoing coordination efforts were confirmed by State Commissioner Dave Updegrouve during an online media briefing.
Heartbreaking footage from the Gray Fire in Spokane, Washington, United States. pic.twitter.com/F9I81z8AS4
— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) August 2, 2026
Governor Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency yesterday morning and banned all fire-starting activities throughout Washington.
No injuries or fatalities related to the fires have been reported so far, officials said.
Massive wildfire has engulfed multiple homes in Spokane, Washington, USA 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/NYl8cRpVFF
— Disaster News (@Top_Disaster) August 2, 2026
Spokane, a city of 230,000 residents in eastern Washington, is facing the Old Trails Fire, which according to George Geisler, head of the Washington State Forest Service, has burned across 12,000 acres and is threatening 4,000 homes.
Utility company Avista, which operates across eastern Washington, reported that 60,000 customers had lost power.
Since the start of summer, approximately 1.2 million acres have burned across Washington State, Updegrouve said. “This is not normal… We’re seeing fires burning all across Washington State,” he stated.
BREAKING: SPOKANE, Washington: Severe wildfires approaching northwestern Spokane have triggered urgent evacuation orders and left tens of thousands of residents without electricity.
Emergency crews are battling both the huge blaze and widespread infrastructure fires, as power… pic.twitter.com/4WhNz2wWfS
— World Source News (@Worldsource24) August 2, 2026
The Spokane fire is one of five “major fire complexes” burning across the state, Geisler said. The largest, the Kaiser Canyon Fire in the northeastern part of the state, has scorched approximately 500,000 acres, he added. Wildfires have posed a serious threat this summer across other Pacific Northwest states as well.
In addition to the National Guard, firefighters from more than ten states are participating in suppression operations, Washington officials said at a press conference.
“What we’re seeing out there is a tragedy,” said Brigadier General Jed Wells, Adjutant General of the Washington National Guard. “When the sun goes down and comes back up in the morning, I think we’re going to be shocked by some of the images that are revealed out there.”
