📰 Curated from Associated Press
📖 Read full article→Washington state fires destroy hundreds of buildings and force Spokane-area residents to evacuate - AP News
WorldBy Lindsey Wasson, Ed White, Gene Johnson8/3/20261 min read
Some residents have returned to devastated neighborhoods in eastern Washington state to find their homes leveled by wildfires that erupted across a parched landscape over the weekend. Yards have been covered in charred debris and in some cases only chimneys r…
✨ Key Highlights
- Authorities arrested 37-year-old Aaron F. Farinacci on suspicion of arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, one of several blazes burning around Spokane, Washington's second-largest city. He was booked and is being held on a $1 million bond.
- The Old Trails Fire, which sparked Saturday, is among several wildfires ravaging eastern Washington and ranks among the most destructive in state history.
- Collectively, the fires have destroyed at least 700 structures and forced roughly 67,000 people to evacuate, with about 5,000 homes cleared as the blazes remained uncontained Sunday.
- Residents faced uncertainty over whether their homes survived, with some returning Monday to find neighborhoods largely burned to the ground. Miriam and Daniel Sim, both 76, viewed the destroyed remains of their home in northern Spokane.
- Lizzie Davis said her family lost her childhood home along with family heirlooms in the fires.
- Washington's governor said he discussed the wildfires with President Trump, while utility crews from Avista worked through affected properties in the aftermath.
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) Some residents returned to devastated neighborhoods in eastern Washington state to find their homes leveled by wildfires that erupted across a parched landscape over the weekend,