“It feels like a bad dream,” said Claire Shover, a new mother whose home was destroyed by the wildfires burning across the Spokane, Washington, area.
Timelapse of Spokane Complex Fire captured by bird feeder camera
A bird feeder camera captured 28 hours of the Spokane-area fire as it scorched parts of Washington.
Jason Dalton looked forward to bringing his children back to his childhood home in Spokane, Washington, where they could enjoy the backyard and swimming pool he loved growing up.
But those days are over.
On Aug. 1, Dalton’s childhood home was among an estimated 700 structures razed to the ground by several wildfires that swept across the Spokane area in a matter of hours.
“I’m still in shock,” Dalton, 35, told USA TODAY. “I’m sad for my mom. She lost everything.”
As of Aug. 4, three large wildfires consumed more than 16 square miles of land and forced more than 65,000 people to flee their homes, officials said. Police arrested a 37-year-old man accused of igniting the Old Trails Fire, the largest of the three blazes.
Thousands of firefighting personnel have struggled to gain control of the wildfires, which erupted as the Spokane area faced unusually high temperatures, persistent drought conditions and strong winds. All three wildfires were 0% contained as of Aug. 4, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
The fires have torn across a number of middle- and working-class communities in and around Spokane, the second-largest city in Washington. Residents who spoke with USA TODAY described their frenzied escape from the wildfires and the devastation left in their wake.
Nikolas Shover, 26, said he was speaking with a technician about his air conditioning on Aug. 1 when he saw the orange glow of flames and smoke columns in the distance. He didn’t panic, at least not immediately. The fire was still well on the other side of the Spokane River.
It didn’t take long for danger to draw nearer.
As the winds picked up and flames made their way up the hillside toward Shover’s house, he packed up his car and yelled at his neighbors to get moving. Soon the idyllic suburban neighborhood of Indian Trail was covered with smoke as roads filled with evacuees.
Shover, his wife, Claire, and their 4-month-old daughter spent the night at a friend’s house. There, they watched videos online of what looked appeared to be their street completely consumed in flames. The next day, Nikolas Shover went back and confirmed there was nothing left of their home.
“It feels like a bad dream,” said Claire Shover, 27. “I think we’re still a bit numb right now.”
Family heirlooms, keepsakes destroyed
Dalton said he called his mother as soon as he heard about the fires on Aug. 1. She told him that she’d been running errands and that her neighborhood had been closed off by roadblocks. Dalton’s other relatives, including his brother and several cousins, had evacuated the house after receiving emergency alerts.
When they eventually returned, they found the house completely destroyed. The only thing left standing was a rock wall that was the centerpiece of their living room.
“It was surreal,” said Dalton’s brother, Matthew Elizondo, who also grew up in the house. “The whole street was just rubble. … Seeing that was probably the most horrible moment of my life.”
Jordan Wertman, a freelance photographer, was editing videos in his basement when he heard cars screeching down the road in Westgate, a residential neighborhood in north Spokane. When he looked out the window, the sky was dark with smoke and he saw neighbors hurriedly packing their cars.
Wertman followed suit and called his relatives to let them know the house was in danger and he was leaving. On his way out, he grabbed one of his mother’s prized possessions – a coffee mug in the shape of a ski-boot which she’s had for decades.
“It’s one of her favorite things in the world,” Wertman said.
Nikolas Shover said he regrets not packing his daughter’s quilt, which was woven from his grandfather’s favorite cardigan sweater. His wife said she wished she packed some letters written by her grandfather and items from her nursery that she was saving for her daughter.
“I really just needed five minutes to get a few things, but I couldn’t get anything,” she said through tears. “Now it’s all burnt to the ground.”
Spokane residents say they were warned about wildfire danger
More than a half dozen residents whose homes were destroyed said they received prompt emergency notifications that gave them enough time to flee safely.
In the days ahead of Aug. 1, local officials warned people to monitor potential evacuation warnings as high winds threatened to quickly spread wildland fires, residents said. Compounding the threat were persistent drought conditions and unusually warm temperatures gripping much of the Pacific Northwest.
Officials said the dangerous mix made for a “historic weather event” that fueled the explosive growth of the wildfires.
No deaths or injuries have been reported as of Aug. 1, but officials said that could change as fire activity subsides and search crews gain access to devastated areas that remain inaccessible.
Benjamin Cossel, a spokesperson for the California Interagency Incident Management Team 7, said an unspecified number of people remain missing after the fires spread from forested areas into neighborhoods and commercial districts.
Wertman said he and his family briefly evacuated their home last year for a wildfire but noted that the blaze was put out quickly.
“We kind of thought that was going to happen this time, too,” he said. “We didn’t get lucky this time.”
Restarting from scratch
In the days since the fires destroyed their homes, Spokane residents said they’re trying to plan what to do next. Many of them are balancing work and caring for their children while searching for hotels and rental properties.
Elizondo said he, his mother and his two children are going to move into an apartment until they can rebuild their home. Elizondo said a rental office in Spokane was packed with other evacuees when his mother went to sign a lease on an apartment.
Wertman said he and his wife, who is due to give birth to their first child in December, plan to stay with relatives until they can find a rental property.
“We’re trying to stay positive about all this,” he said.
The Shovers said they don’t know what they’ll do next. They had just finished major renovations on their house before the fires. It was the first they’d ever purchased, and one they planned to raise their infant daughter in.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” Claire Shover said. “But we’re just really happy that we’re safe and we have each other.”
Christopher Cann is a national reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him by email at [email protected].
