Overview
- The wildfires that swept Spokane in early August have burned roughly 10,000–10,500 acres, destroyed more than 700 structures and forced about 65,000 people to evacuate.
- Incident Command told local outlets the Spokane fires are likely the most destructive in Washington’s history, a characterization that has heightened calls for outside help.
- National coverage has placed the Spokane blazes within a wider Oregon–Washington season that CNN called the worst in more than 30 years with about 2.6 million acres burned regionwide.
- On August 4–5, Spokane native Sydney Sweeney posted that members of her own family were affected, named four on-the-ground groups and said she had put together a fundraiser to support their work.
- The four organizations Sweeney promoted are the Innovia Foundation’s Spokane Complex Wildfire Fund for community recovery, SpokAnimal for pet sheltering, Second Harvest for emergency food distribution and Watch Duty for real-time updates, and her post has raised the profile of local needs and could channel more donations and volunteers to the region.