High winds drove a wildfire into an eastern Washington neighborhood, forcing the evacuation of about 1,500 people and destroying at least 15 homes, officials said Wednesday.
The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that its forensic unit found what appeared to be human remains inside a home destroyed in the fire. A family member had requested a wellness check because one of the residents had refused to evacuate and could not be reached, officials said in a news release.
They were working to confirm whether the remains were in fact human, and if so, identify who they were and how they died.
Authorities have not reported any injuries.
The Upriver Fire was burning about a mile east of Spokane, Washington, and had burned 222 acres by late Wednesday, according to Inciweb, the U.S. Forest Service’s wildfire information website. It was 10% contained.
Spokane is about 280 miles east of Seattle near the border with Idaho.
Many people living in the densely populated neighborhoods had to flee on a moment’s notice — sometimes after an officer knocked on their door — leaving behind belongings and, in some cases, critical medications, Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said during a news conference.
People were being escorted Wednesday by an officer to their homes one by one to access those essential needs, but then they were taken back out, Nowels said.
The evacuation order for the 1,500 residents remained in effect Wednesday, said Chandra Fox, deputy director for Spokane County Emergency Management.
The blaze started just after noon Tuesday and quickly moved up a hill, said fire district spokesman Robert Gray. Winds then shifted, sending flames into a neighborhood, Gray said.
John Leavell, battalion chief with the Spokane Valley Fire Department, was one of the first people to spot the fire. He said he was driving near Interstate 90 when he saw a column of smoke.
“As I approached it, I thought this is going to be a big event — this is going fast,” he said. “It looked like waves of fire going up the hill.”
He pulled into a driveway and found a house engulfed in flames, so he contacted surrounding agencies and the local fire district took over while his crew started building fire lines, he said. Leavell said he didn’t know if the fire began at the house or quickly consumed it. The cause is still under investigation.
Fire crews from Washington state and Idaho attacked the fire from the ground and air, but it quickly grew. Avista turned off power for the area as the fire progressed for the safety of firefighters. It remained off Wednesday in some areas.
The weather was working in the firefighters’ favor.
Winds were lighter Wednesday and were expected to decrease after sunset, according to Rachael Fewkes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Spokane. The temperature also dropped a few degrees from the mid-80s on Tuesday to a high of 80 on Wednesday, she said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday that it authorized the use of Fire Management Assistance Grant funds to help with firefighting costs for the Spokane blaze. The regional FEMA director said the fire had the potential to constitute a major disaster. Besides threatening homes, it also threatened a school, power lines, parks, businesses and wildlife.
FEMA said this was the first fire grant awarded this season to fight a Washington wildfire.
More than 32,000 fires have burned more than 3,900 square miles so far this year in the United States, according to the fire center, which coordinates the mobilization of large-scale firefighting efforts.
That’s significantly higher than the 10-year average of just under 24,000 fires burning about 2,200 square miles by early June, according to the fire center, even though fire activity has been relatively light in recent weeks.
Weather and fuel models that predict conditions like wind, lightning and how likely plants and other materials are to burn also show an increased danger of fires in multiple areas across the U.S. in coming weeks, according to the fire center. Some regions with critical conditions for fire include portions of California, and the Southwest, Great Basin and Rocky Mountain areas.
