This article was updated at 10 a.m. after a Federal Disaster Declaration was approved and a man suspected of starting the Old Trails Fire was arrested.
Alisha Davidson is taking stock two days after she, her husband and dogs fled from their house in Spokane on Saturday. They took what they could in the minutes they had to leave the Indian Trail neighborhood as the Old Trails Fire crept closer.
"You look around, and the only thing you have left of all your belongings, your whole life, is your backpack," the 29-year-old said.
Davidson FaceTimed her husband while he briefly returned to their block, reporting back that their whole cul-de-sac is destroyed, aside from one house. He'll be able to salvage their barbecue, a couple tools and a firepit.
"That's kind of all we have left besides a couple clothes and, you know, little articles of whatever," Davidson said. "I mean, those things are replaceable," but photos and memories, she said, are not.
Donna Deeble, 92, was one of many evacuated by city buses in a coordinated effort by Spokane Transit Authority. She's a resident at an assisted living facility in Fairwood.
"We were sitting out in front and waiting to see what happened, and pretty soon the transit buses came and picked us up," she said. "There was a constant line of families picking up their elder people, so it was a busy place, but we were all pretty calm."
Suspected arsonist arrested
Smoldering piles and collapsed walls lie today where people's homes stood Saturday morning in Spokane. The Spokane Area Fires, comprising three large wildfires, have burned more than 10,000 acres as of Tuesday morning and are still uncontained.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said in a press conference Monday night that investigators arrested 37-year-old Aaron Farinacci on suspicion of starting one of the three fires.
Nowels said a citizen driving in the area where the fire started on Saturday noticed a man standing on the side of the road looking up into the trees.
"About 10 minutes later as he was coming back through the area he noticed the male was bending down near some grass," Nowels said. "At that point the male stood up and looked very nervous according to our citizen witness. At that point the male walked away."
Nowels said the citizen contacted police in the nearby city of Airway Heights and gave them a description. It was early in the fire and officers were busy getting people out, but they went later that day to question Farinacci. That began the investigation that led to Monday's arrest.
Nowels said Farinacci is facing a first-degree arson charge. He is being held in the Spokane County jail on a $1 million bond. His first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday.
The Old Trails fire was the first of the three major Spokane fires that ignited on Saturday.
Damage assessment will take time
Officials say it's the worst natural disaster in Spokane's history. In a news conference Monday morning, state and local officials said at least 700 structures have been lost.
Tom Clemo, incident commander of California Interagency Incident Management Team 7, said it is too early to report on damages accurately.
"Somewhere between 700 and 1,100 is the question mark right now. And I want to be very, very clear, these numbers are preliminary and this is a complicated, complex process of determining total structure loss," he said. "As part of that, we are very vague with a purpose."
Over 65,000 people were evacuated, and as of Monday midday, it's not clear when many will be able to return home.
"It could be a week, it could be weeks, depending on where your home and property is," said Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown.
She said she knows people want certainty about when they can go back, but officials can't provide that clarity yet.
"It's neighborhood by neighborhood and block by block, and so we really want you just to pay attention," Brown said, even if you've "seen someone else on social media go back to their home."
She said fire and law enforcement officials are regularly reevaluating the weather, the fire, and the potential for things to reignite.
Weather gives brief help as fires burn more than 10,000 acres
The fires started in a flash and grew quickly, while people were going about their Saturday afternoon in sunny Spokane. The largest of the fires, the Old Trails Fire, started at approximately 11:56 a.m. Saturday, near Old Trails Road and West Euclid Road.
In mere hours, high winds had exploded it to 3,500 acres across residential neighborhoods, Riverside State Park, the Spokane Rifle Club and more. People watched from downtown Spokane as smoke billowed across the sky, framing the iconic Gesa Pavilion and city buildings in an apocalyptic scene.
Officials said Monday lower temperatures and calmer winds helped firefighters make significant gains against that fire and the Fairview Fire.The third fire threatening Spokane, the Autumn Lane Fire, remained active Sunday night, and aerial crews were spending Monday supporting efforts to fight that blaze.As of noon Monday, the fires were estimated to have burned about 12.5 square miles.
But some of the thousands of people under evacuation orders were allowed to return to their devastated homes. The Associated Press reported Monday that in some parts of town, only chimneys remained. Hotter conditions are expected later this week.
About 400 people have been staying at the city's main convention center, which has been turned into a shelter. The Spokane County Fairgrounds is being used to host an animal shelter. And other evacuation centers have been set up at Spokane's Northwood Middle School and in Chewelah at Jenkins High School.
Help on the way
Gov. Bob Ferguson's request for an expedited emergency declaration for the wildfires sweeping through central and eastern Washington state was granted on Tuesday.
"I appreciate the federal government moving quickly and granting our request for this emergency declaration," Governor Ferguson said in a press release. "We are laser-focused on getting assistance to those Washingtonians who have lost so much."
He asked for federal help with "search and rescue, debris removal, medical supplies and assistance, temporary sheltering, and emergency power, such as generators."
FEMA officials told Ferguson Monday morning they were already deploying resources to Washington state in anticipation of the disaster being approved by the Trump Administration.
The state's request, which is backed by its entire congressional delegation, asked for emergency and direct federal assistance to Spokane, Stevens, Chelan, Okanogan, Yakima and Ferry counties, plus the Spokane Tribe of Indians, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Yakama Nation.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said it would be a long road to recovery.
"Hang in there with us," said Brown. "These needs are not gonna go away immediately. It's really going to be a long-term process of recovery. But it's already started. We're all pulling together. We're all gonna be part of it, and that's where the hope is."
The official channels to support victims include Spokane's H.O.M.E. Starts Here Initiative, the Innovia Foundation's wildfire response fund, the American Red Cross, and local non-profits, including Global Neighborhood Thrift and Vintage, which is collecting clothing donations.
Looking ahead
The nightmarish wildfire came during a year of milestones for Davidson and her husband. They're newly married and have just learned they're expecting a baby in March. Her wedding dress was lost to the fire.
"These seem silly, but I have plants that I've had for six-plus years I've grown. They are beautiful, thriving. Now they're just gone. Just all that energy, you know? Life you put into the home."
It's hard to comprehend the loss of their home, not 1,500 feet from the rushing Spokane River, up on Lyons Court in Northwest Spokane.
"We were just rebuilding our deck … about to put on new stairs, and I saw some ash running down. And I was like, 'I'm gonna pack some go bags just in case, and load up the car.' And I did, and like, 10 minutes later, they were like, 'you gotta get out.'"
The fire jumped the river toward them, with wind blowing ash from tree to tree.
It's also been hard for Deeble. She's been staying at the Red Cross shelter and said there's no TV to get updates, and the place is loud a lot of the time. But she's displaying a kind of grit and positivity that's not rare to find in Spokanites. "What else can you do?" Deeble said.
"You kind of got to roll with the punches. And at 92, I have adapted that attitude. You roll with the punches."
This story was edited with support from the Mountain West News Bureau
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