(CNN) — Thousands of families have been ordered to flee their homes as a fast-moving wildfire grows in Spokane County, Washington, filling the skies with thick smoke and backing up traffic on some roads while state officials warn of an incredibly dangerous situation on the ground.
The Old Trails Fire – fueled by extreme fire weather conditions – has burned nearly 3,000 acres, Washington State Forester George Geissler said at a news conference Saturday, adding about 4,000 buildings are threatened in the area.
The full extent of the damage is not yet clear, but officials said the fire is impacting structures.
“When the sun sets and the sun rises in the morning, I think we’re going to be in shock to see some of the scenes that emerge out of there,” Washington National Guard Maj. Gen. Gent Welsh said.
The highest level of evacuation order, Level 3, was issued for several areas in the Spokane area due to the Old Trails Fire, local emergency management officials said, urging residents to “leave now due to the life-threatening conditions.” An evacuation shelter was opened at a community college for residents fleeing their homes.
Across the state, more than 200,000 acres are burning from 12 large fires, the governor’s office said. The Old Trails Fire is one of multiple blazes burning in Spokane County, where several thousand homes were under evacuation orders, emergency management officials told CNN.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson implemented a statewide state of emergency and burn ban Saturday morning as the National Weather Service issued a Particularly Dangerous Situation Red Flag Warning across Central and Eastern Washington – a rare designation reserved for the most severe fire weather conditions.
This marks the first time the weather service has issued such a warning in Washington, meaning “new fires can grow out of control rapidly, our aircraft response may be limited by wind and smoke, and our already taxed wild land firefighters will be in more dangerous conditions,” the Washington Department of Natural Resources said.
“You’ve got fires burning in towns. You’ve got level 3 evacuations like I haven’t seen before,” Welsh said. “This is a very dangerous and very complex series of events.”
Extreme conditions fuel flames
The Old Trails Fire started around noon Saturday and state firefighters were mobilized around 1:30 p.m., according to a news release from the Washington State Fire Marshal. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
Ferguson said by the late afternoon, he had received word “Spokane was rapidly moving into a crisis situation.”
“Our hearts go out to Washingtonians who are losing their homes and being evacuated,” the governor said, describing seeing video of homes in flames.
Video shows smoke rising over Spokane County on Saturday as wildfires spread across the area. Orange and gray clouds loomed over houses and parks.
“This is a nuclear bomb going off in our neighborhoods,” Spokane resident Brent Dallman told CNN affiliate KHQ. “This is condensed into where it’s demographically a lot of people, so it’s really tragic.”
Along with homes, the Old Trails Fire is threatening Riverside State Park and has forced evacuations at Spokane’s veterans’ hospital, water reclamation facility and waste energy plant, city officials said.
Near the Old Trails Fire, the Fairview Fire is also forcing Level 3 evacuations in the Spokane area.
The National Weather Service issued a rare Fire Warning for the county – used when active fires are burning in inhabited areas under emergency evacuation orders.
“Fire and EMS resources across our region are being stretched extremely thin as multiple large wildfires continue to burn,” Spokane Valley Fire Department said.
On Friday, Ferguson activated 110 members of the Washington National Guard to aid with firefighting. The Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office has also mobilized 13 task forces.
Authorities had warned of “historically strong winds” and low humidity fueling a high risk of extreme fire behavior and very rapid growth in the Spokane area.
Winds picked up Saturday with many locations reporting wind gusts 30-45 mph alongside sustained winds of 15-25 mph, according to the National Weather Service. Winds will continue to strengthen over the next couple hours and peak forecast winds will continue through 8 p.m.
Avista, an energy company, shut off power to hundreds of homes in some areas Saturday “due to critical to extreme fire weather conditions.” Another company, Inland Power & Light, also reported outages caused by the weather.
The wildfire is growing as Washington is in the middle of its fourth consecutive statewide drought, according to the governor’s office. More than 1,000 fires have burned about 425,000 acres so far this year — the most burned since 2021, according to the Department of Natural Resources.
More than 4,000 personnel are working to quell blazes across the state, officials said at the news conference.
“This year has already been one of our busiest wildfire years on record, and we just started August,” Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove said in the news release.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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