Jul. 6—Evacuation orders were given Sunday for a 50-acre wildfire burning west of Equestrian Lane and a quarter mile south of Morin Trailhead in Riverside State Park.
Washington Department of Natural Resources wildfire spokesman Ryan Rodruck said the Aubrey fire began as a small vegetation fire first reported around 2 p.m.
“Given the high heat and amount of fuel in the area, it has some spread potential,” Rodruck said.
However, Rodruck also said a significant amount of resources are being used to help suppress the fire. The Department of Natural Resources alone has sent three engines, two 20-person hand crews, three helicopters and three fire boss aircraft.
Evacuations have been ordered since 3:22 p.m. from the intersection of West Seven Mile Road and North Inland Road to a little further south the intersection of North Equestrian Lane and West Government Way according to a map from Spokane County Emergency Management.
Before the evacuations, residents stood alongside West Northwest Boulevard and North Assembly Street watching the large plume of smoke, but Spokane police have since closed off the West Northwest Boulevard.
Rodruck said he didn’t want to speculate on the outcome of the fire, but said that there were a significant amount of resources being used given the size of it.
Update
At 5 p.m. a Red Cross evacuation center opened at Salk Middle School. Three volunteers offered water to around ten people that showed up and a couple people went inside for a respite from the heat.
Corrie Garner, her husband, two kids and two dogs arrived just before 5 p.m. after getting evacuation orders from Spokane Police.
Garner said she smelt smoke around 3:30 p.m. from her house south of the Northwest NomNom. Shortly after cops drove around the neighborhood with megaphones and gave evacuation orders.
“It happened so quick,” Garner said. “It was definitely pretty intense.”
While the firefighters continued to battle the flames, Garner worried about her belongings at home like her chickens and car.
“I hope they’re going to stop it,” Garner said. “My whole entire life is there.”
Mary-Lou Benson and her friend Tina Cantlon-Lesser evacuated from Avista Senior Living and sat inside the cafeteria waiting for updates on the fire. Benson said she wasn’t worried as she was a devout Catholic.
“We believe he’s in charge,” Benson said. “He’ll handle the rest.”
However, Cantlon-Lesser was a little more worried and brought just about everything she could think of including family documents, body wash, water, extra clothes and some chargers for a neighbors electric wheelchair.
Cantlon-Lesser also said she was very thankful being able to go inside the school and not have to wait outside.
Overall, the situation seemed calm as most people hung out in the parking lot and took advantage of the free water. By 5:30 p.m. the evacuated area to the west of the Spokane River had downgraded to a level two and to the east, a level one and people began to leave the school.
Rodruck said around 5:30 p.m. that forward progress of the fire is stopped and is not expected to spread beyond 50 acres.
He also said around 100 total people helped fight the fire which is because it’s still early enough in the fire season that the staffing is available.
“When we have these resources available, we use them,” Rodruck said.
The National Weather Service also issued a fire watch across several counties in central and eastern Washington including Spokane from July 8 at 1 p.m. to July 9 at 8 p.m..
Antoinette Serrato, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said this week will be hot, dry and have some strong winds putting the area at risk for more fires.
Monday will have a high of 93 with a low of 61, but Tuesday Serrato said will be the hottest day in multiple parts of Washington with a high in Spokane reaching 98. Wednesday is projected to hit 89, but its expected to cool off on Thursday before warming back up on the weekend.
“The biggest thing to look out for is to make sure you’re aware and able to get fire alerts,” Serrato said. “If a fire does start, it will spread fast.”
Corbin Vanderby’s work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper’s managing editor.