Spokane Fires

(Photo taken between equestrian area and Morin trailhead, day after the fire)

If you watch the news, you may have seen our city on fire. Everything hit at once: hot day, dry conditions, and strong winds. We don’t know what started it yet, but some people are saying arson. That has not been confirmed. (Update: a man has been arrested for arson. Witnesses saw him light grass on fire with matches and butane. His felony was for homicide in Arizona. He also had investigations for previous arson.) Although, I wouldn’t be surprised since so many are started that way. 

It began about a mile from our house, and we saw the initial smoke, late morning, but assumed they’d get it out quickly. That didn’t happen, and we began to see more and more smoke. 

We packed all of our important papers and items, hooked up the horse trailer, and began the watch. The wind was blowing it away from us with gusts up to almost 50 mph. We didn’t know if the winds would shift, but they weren’t predicted to, so we weren’t evacuated. Friends of ours were. 

In fact, one friend who evacuated was going to meet me for a ride that day, almost right where the fire began. (Same road) We canceled because of the winds and high fire alert. 

The fire tore through the park where I always ride and that you’re familiar with if you follow the blog at all. You might also remember all the tree thinning they were doing that worried the horses. And the chipping. And the fire trucks they’d have in there. 

I’m sure that helped. But it still tore through there and then jumped the Spokane River (you’ve also seen many, many photos of from trail rides) and then ripped up to residential areas and the VA hospital. So far, over 600 structures have been lost. Many people lost their homes. Our city is devastated. 

We were up all night, the night it broke out, taking turns listening for updates, in case the wind shifted and we needed to run. I’m exhausted. We all are. There are still hot spots and fire spots and smoke as 3 fires have almost merged into one. 

The Old Trails Fire, named after the road Old Trails where I was going to ride that day, grew to 3,619 acres. The Autumn Lane Fire along Long Lake (that is where we boat) is roughly the same and still growing. 

Our equestrian area was spared, but barely. 

Our city is covered in smoke. The fires are not contained. The wind has stopped. It looks like the apocalypse. We’re still packed to leave, should the situation change. 

But so far we have been very lucky.