Looking west on West Excell Avenue at the intersection of North Sutherlin Street, you’ll see nothing but homes burned to the ground for as far as the eye can see.
And there’s so much more that the eye can’t see. In northwest Spokane, barricades block streets surrounding the worst of the destruction, and in some areas, vehicles aren’t able to enter or exit.
Evacuees are living in a state of purgatory. Along Indian Trail Road, residents are transporting their belongings and supplies on foot, in wagons, on Lime scooters, on bicycles — or they’re taking rides from neighbors who have space in their vehicles inside the evacuation zones.
A staircase, pink from fire retardant, leads to nowhere following devastating fires that burned hundreds of homes to the ground, on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, in the Pacific Park neighborhood of northwest Spokane.
And the trio of fires are raging on. A large portion of the Balboa neighborhood was completely leveled by the Old Trails Fire, and it continues to burn, as do the Autumn Lane and Fairview fires.
As of this writing, at least 900 structures have been lost in the blazes, and 67,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes.
Lauren McKean, 17, walks through what remains of her burned down home, on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, in the Balboa neighborhood of northwest Spokane.
“This is by far and large the worst one we’ve ever been on,” said Steve Moyer, a firefighter with the Moses Lake Fire Department. “Like, hands down.”
They usually do about half a dozen state mobilizations per year, he said.
“I mean, you’re in a neighborhood right now and there isn’t a single house standing,” Moyer said. His team of firefighters — from both Moses Lake and Santa Fe, New Mexico — was looking for hot spots in a completely leveled cul-de-sac.
“It’s apocalyptic,” he said. “I don’t know how anyone didn’t die in this neighborhood, that we know of yet. This is sad for everyone.”
Firefighters from several states, including California, Utah, and New Mexico, have joined the fight.
Above, Joaquim Ceballos, left, and Silvestre Andrade, right, from Porterville, California, rest in the shade near their tents after an overnight shift of fighting fire, on Wednesday, August 5, at the fairgrounds in Spokane.
The fairgrounds have been transformed into a base camp for firefighters and an incident command center.
A melted light post is shown after fires destroyed hundreds of structures earlier in the week, on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, in the Balboa neighborhood of northwest Spokane.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said in a press conference that this is the worst natural disaster in the region’s history.
Evacuation orders are still in place in many areas, but some residents are returning to look for anything at all that remains.
Above, Andy and Angela McKean look at a bracelet in their family safe, belonging to Angela’s grandmother, Juanita.
The bracelet had a charm for every one of Juanita’s children, grandchildren, and great-grand children. In the background, their son, Colin McKean, 15, looks through what remains of what was once his bedroom.
“We’re just numb,” said Angela McKean. “It’s too hard to process.”
A portion of the Balboa neighborhood is completely leveled by fire on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, in northwest Spokane.
Above, Andy McKean hands a ring that was found in their family’s safe to his 17-year-old daughter, Lauren McKean, as they search through the wreckage of their home. The ring belonged to Lauren’s great-grandmother, Juanita.
Lauren McKean was home alone when the fires tore through. She saved Deebo, their family’s dog, and told her mom that she felt guilty she didn’t save more.
A charred American flag is shown on a destroyed home after fires tore through northwest Spokane, shown on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, in the Balboa neighborhood.
On the day that the fires began, Saturday, Aug. 1, wind gusts reached up to 50 miles per hour.
The Old Trails Fire, which has so far burned thousands of acres in Spokane County, jumped the Spokane River before burning the neighborhood pictured above to the ground.
Homes covered in pink fire retardant are shown at the intersection of Indian Trail Road and West Pacific Park Drive on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, in northwest Spokane.
In the Pacific Park neighborhood, some residents never left. Retired firefighter Jim Richards and three of his neighbors stayed.
As the fire arrived, they created a water line perimeter around their homes, and their neighbors homes, and saved all but two houses.
His neighbors bought him bourbon as a “thank you.”
Siblings Colin McKean, 15, left, and Lauren McKean, 17, right, search through what remains of their home after it burned to the ground, on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, in Spokane.
Aaron F. Farinacci was arrested for allegedly lighting the Old Trails Fire.
While in custody, Farinacci said that he feels that “fire is powerful, beautiful, and that things that go through fire experience a kind of rebirth.”
He told investigators that he began planning the fire two weeks in advance, using a weather app to predict a day with high fire danger.
The sun shrouded in smoke is shown behind a charred tree, burned in the Old Trails fire, on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, in northwest Spokane.
Mark White walks through what remains of his mother’s home — the home that he grew up in. “We’re treasure hunting and making new memories,” he said, searching through the wreckage with his younger brother David.
Susan White bought her home in September of 1983. She collected antiques. Mark said he didn’t really recognize it as a kid, but looking back, it was “like a museum.”
In the ashes they found the remains of a piano, a typewriter, a fully in-tact plate with a unicorn on it, and Susan’s brass baby shoes.
Mark White stood next to a charred burning bush plant that he planted when he was 9-years-old. He found that ironic.
Firefighters who worked an overnight shift sleep inside of their tents on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, at the Fairgrounds in Spokane.
Yellow flowers are left at the remains of Susan White’s burned down home on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, in northwest Spokane.
David White inspects damage to an antique Mosler safe at what used to be the home he grew up in. He had removed important items before the fires swept through.
David left a fake gold bar in the top of the safe. He wanted to see if looters would take it and think it was real.
In the wreckage, 17-year-old Lauren McKean finds pieces of her pottery projects. She found one piece made by her best friend Teagan, who also lost her home.
Liquified metal is shown near a charred vehicle after destructive wildfires swept through northwest Spokane, on Wednesday, August 5, 2026.
A truck covered in fire retardant sits along West Pacific Park Drive on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, in northwest Spokane.
In the devastation, the helpers emerged. Cases of water bottles were left on street corners, and food and water bowls for the animals.
Neighbors checked on one another, brought supplies, and offered their bathrooms and homes to those who no longer had their own.
Evacuees walk along North Indian Trail Road carrying their belongings as the Old Trails fire continues to burn on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, in northwest Spokane.
A charred vehicle is shown on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, after fires tore through northwest Spokane.
Heavy smoke from fires burning in northwest Spokane is shown on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, in Spokane.
“People are telling us, out of comfort, that it’s just things,” said Angela McKean. “Logically, we know that they are things, we’re well aware of that.”
“What I’m grieving is the loss of the place that I found my comfort,” she said.
“We’re needing a moment to just curl up in our bed with our blankets, our pillows. And it’s here,” she said through tears, motioning toward the rubble.
“It’s just gone,” she said. “We’ll find it again, it’s just going to take a long time.”
A home is shown burned to the ground on Wednesday, August 5, 2026, in northwest Spokane.
Casey Frizzell of Oregon Public Broadcasting contributed reporting.