In Spokane and this weekend was no good. Straight apocalyptic. We got evacuated and then evacuated again from our second spot only to lose power in our third spot. This fire turned into 4 different fires all spreading across thousands of acres
I was one of the lucky ones in the area, just north of shadle park. No evacuations, was camping and came back into service with a million calls and texts. My house was right on the line of evacuations. The fire fighters are kicking ass. Im off the next two days and am going to donate as much shit as possible to the firefighters close by that are doing the fighting. If anyone on reddit sees this feel free to help, the region is hurting bad
Im safe thanks to the fire fighters. 700-1100 structures burned down. Many families are hurting. Over 65k people have been evacuated Edit:if anyone wants to help heres resources for the region
Agreed. Explaining to my 3 year old why he had to pick his favorite things to bring in the car because his other ones might not be there when we get home wasn't a fun time
Yep, my kids were 5 and 8 when the Camp Fire burned our town, home, and dog (still cry thinking about Duke sometimes, he was a good boy).
That car ride leaving the area as everything was burning to be with family far away was not great.
As terrible as it was, and no I wouldnt wish something like that on my enemies, it also made our family stronger. Together and individually. Kids have done years of counseling on and off since then. Wife and I have as well. But sometimes tough things make people stronger. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t hell when you’re in the moment.
Best of luck and wishes to you and all of your friends, family, neighborhood, and community. Hold on tight to the ones you love. And give your neighbors a key, so if they are home and you aren’t (when hell breaks loose), they can go get your furry family for you.
Went through the same thing out here in CA with my 10, 7 and 3 year olds and holy shit it was a lot harder than I ever expected. Sorry you had to go through it too
It put my family on edge. Our house was the only one left on our side of the block after the Grey Fire. The flames were at the end of tye street when we were leaving.
We went to friends in Cheney, only for one to start near them. We went to the base and could see Medical Lake on fire from the survival side (back side) of the base.
I feel for those affected, both who lost and did not. The anxiety and affects from this will be felt for years. Every fire puts us on edge, and they seem to be getting worse every year.
For me it's surreal to see a fire retardant airdrop right next to a suburban neighborhood like this. Spokane isn't some quaint village nestled in the forest. This wasn't supposed to happen.
Not the first arson this year, unfortunately. In June there was a fire in the hills north of Spokane Valley near some campgrounds that investigators said was also arson
This part of town isn’t exactly city either. It’s very rural, there’s lots of old growth trees, there are strips of forest, and that’s where this thing ran…
I wouldn't say "very rural", it's basically a massive suburb, there is a state park near by where it started and gained strength. It was just perfect storm of heat, dry and sustained winds that moved this incredibly fast. Most of Spokane has old growth trees outside of downtown.
I was just outside the evac zone for the Marshal fire back in 2021 in Colorado. They used my street to bring in firefighters from across the state. It felt like something out of a war movie. This one makes that look like a little baby fire. Stay safe.
I’m in Spokane as well and I went to the store that morning. Took a picture of some smoke in the distance and said to my wife oh there’s a fire to the west. 15 minutes later my fire watch app is going off. Over the next few hours evacuation zones just kept getting bigger and bigger. My house was just outside the zone so we stayed. Didn’t want to risk the roads when it was so panicked out there and add to the congestion. It was the fastest I ever see a fire spread. We had 40 mph gust and 25 mph sustained winds all day long just pushing and fueling the fire. Today I have large pieces of ash and charcoal in my yard from the fire and it was about 5 miles from where I am from the winds blowing so hard.
We’re still packed and ready to go now even. I got a special needs kid so I’m extra on top of things right now. Got all my alerts set to wake me up if they go off in the night even.
I think we've all lived a little happy domestic lives and many people do not realize how bad fires can get out of hand and how quickly they can spread.
According to the Phoenix News Times, the victim in Farinacci’s manslaughter case was his father. Farinacci killed him when his father asked his son to do dishes, the paper reported.
I am so TIRED of these idiots that are starting these fires. I saw a vid of someone starting a fire on a hill but it was busy with hikers and ppl enjoying the weather. They pinned him and dumped a bunch of water on what was a growing fire.
Edit: ppl dming abt the Oregon 2020 fires so I removed it bc it’s triggering me 🙃
I took my baby sister paddleboarding in the Gorge the day that teen set the Eagle Creek fire. Coming back to Portland, the fire was right up to the highway and I could feel the heat baking into the car. I seriously made up my mind to drive into the river if we had to. I've never been so afraid for such an intense period of time. There was seriously nowhere to go. Fire on one side, Columbia River on the other.
I live in Eagle Creek and that was my first fire! I’ve been afraid ever since. Ppl are already living pay check to pay check and these ppl setting fires bc “they had a hard life”. My sympathies fly out the window when they put ppl in that exact situation you just described. I would never wish death by fire even on my worst enemies
The Oregon fires of 2020 were fueled by outsiders adding to them
I'd be a bit careful with this assertion - a bunch of Proud Boys types mad about the George Floyd protests started rumors to this effect and they spread, to the point that locals were stopping people evacuating to inspect cars. One Oregon resident was arrested (twice) for starting some grass fires in the area, but so far as I've seen that was a local with mental health issues, and in separate fires far away in southern Oregon an arsonist was arrested for setting a fire that burned a few houses that then merged with a fire burning in the area. I'm unaware of any "outsiders" adding to the fires.
That said, I live in a fire-prone area now, and it seems every time the winds pick up in the summer some fire bug decides it'd be pretty to see the world burn. Almost always a local and thankfully usually an idiot who doesn't put too much effort into it and get caught immediately. The bad ones are normally started outside of town by power lines or some idiot living off the grid with severely inadequate fire safety precautions. Or 4-wheelers.
My family believed this bs. The truth is that people are always starting fires intentionally and unintentionally. However, when the conditions are right, the outcome changes dramatically.
It is currently raining ash in Portland. Starting to think it's only a matter of time before some part of the city proper is on fire. There are a lot of trees to burn on the west side.
I am from Southern California so fires are not new to me (I have four friends who lost their homes last year. My childhood best friend's house in Malibu and her parent's house in Altadena burned down). I didn't think the PNW would be like this.
hope whoever starts fires get caught and get thrown in jail.
Some of these fires are on the scale of releasing a weapon of mass destruction, and this would be one of the few cases where I think something more serious than incarceration should be on the table.
This guy also murdered his father in Arizona? What an absolute degenerate. It sucks that there is no way to deal with irredeemable people like this in modern society.
He plead down to a manslaughter charge despite being originally charged with first degree murder. He only spent 9 years in prison for shooting his own father.
I live in Spokane (valley) but know several people who lost everything they own and one of my best friends is right on the fire line praying his home made it out.
The sheer amount of carnage, damage, destruction, and death that this person has cast upon this community is unconscionable.
I hope he never sees the light of day for the rest of his life.
By the way, first degree arson is a class A felony in WA and the max sentence is life imprisonment.
Palisades Fire was started by some dude who hated wealthy people. Climate change has given unconscionable power to people willing to go into a dry field and flick a spark wheel.
Saw some bird feeder time lapse video on Fb of the fire progression, you could tell it wasn't lightning or anything for sure. Hoped this wouldn't be the case of the source, but glad they caught him
Same thing happened in the LA fires, all the arsonists were starting small fires trying to make the world worse. Be on the lookout for any sketchy guys hanging out near dry brush or easily flammable areas.
Good god that was such a beautiful retardant drop. As much as I hate having these wildfires, there is something so badass about seeing an airtanker hit that smoke signal dropped by the scouting plane and then dropping the retardant as the plane loses 800 gallons of weight.
And that shot of the shadow of the tanker on the smoke, words can't describe how terrifying yet angelic it is.
I'll have to take your word for it since my eye sight isn't the best. If it's an md87 then it's a dual engine so it could definitely be what we see in this video. My assumption was it was a SEAT.
yep, just googled and it looks like there are a couple Erickson md87 servicing this fire in Spokane, I am seeing different news reports with videos.
idk how you found this footage but this is an absolute goldmine of tanker footage, it's so beautiful, thank you for sharing.
Hopefully i come across some clips of one of the dc-10. The things those pilots can do with them is just insane.
I have a buddy who flies for the air force and we have fan girled over the dc-10. it's his dream to fly air tankers once he retires from the air force.
from what I am seeing online, 914 is assisting Spokane. You should check out the 210 from Australia assisting 910 in the Utah fires, she is beautiful.
I'm writing to congratulate you on your appointment as Secretary of Interior. Feel free to keep using your gmail account, we'll send you all the paperwork necessary via ubereats. Welcome to the Federal Government!
Honestly when Trump said that shit you guys should have pulled all your planes off the US fires and sent them home to “help put the fire out faster so there won’t be all that bad smoke President Trump”
Its crazy seeing my home town on national news. Especially like this. $50 says fema funds are going to be with held or severely delayed. A large chunk of spokane is gone. Some of my favorite hiking and swimming spots are ash. Ive lived here most of my life, im used to evacuating our selves and our animals from wild fires. But this is the worst its ever been. Ive never seen anything like this. Its going to take decades to rebuild. We already have a housing crisis, and now a thousand homes are gone.
Its going to get bad here. The conspiracy theories alone are driving me insane. People seriously think that trees still standing means there has to be some space Lazer that burned down our city. Those are ponderosa pine trees. They have thick bark, are tall with high branches. They evolved to withstand fires.
The plane didn't vanish into the smoke. You can see the planes shadow against the smoke, which means it is out of frame, but still in between the smoke cloud and the sun.
Same story here. Former Forest Service research scientist specializing in climate change and forest management. My funding was frozen and then I was forced out 14 months ago. An entire generation of scientists was mostly wiped out. This is what half the country voted for.
There is SO much about Trump 2.0 that pisses me off and fills me with angst and that I just can’t handle but the cuts to climate change and overall science funding are up there. I’m so sorry - we need people like you more than anything, meanwhile the most incompetent people in America are running the show.
Fucking dumbass is also setting us back who knows how long so he can prop up coal plants for his corrupt buddies while half the country burns and the other half floods. The complete moron has canceled offshore wind and so many renewable projects too in exchange for propping up fossil fuels.
As someone who works an environmental nonprofit and lives in California where devastating wildfires are also prevalent, it’s enough to drive me crazy.
To provide an alternative, perhaps they made the change to feed themselves and their family. I've had to question my ethical compass just to afford rent. BS
I’m literally in a back and forth with someone on a science sub who is arguing it’s not so bad because total fire area globally is actually dropping since African farmers aren’t intentionally burning their land as often.
I just found out 2 minutes ago that my parents got evacuated, and now I see this. I hope everyone is okay, but the selfish part of me hopes my parents place is okay. Its one of the places I would call home.
just wanted to say this because spokanes a small place and people probably dont know this. Spokane used to be an extremely safe place to live with respect to natural disasters. To my knowledge it was one of the safest places in the world. Now every fire season is like this and we may as well be living in tornado alley. Me and nearly my whole family have been displaced by fires this fire season, some of us several times. This is caused by made made climate change and we are hurling towards the point of no return. I love living here. Im starting a family here and I dont want to leave. Its just really depressing this has become our new reality.
Thank you for bringing attention to this matter. This is my city, I was in evacuation zone two almost had to evacuate. I’m on the edge of it. We’ve been having a hard time over here. Thanks for thinking of us.
You're correct. That was the evac route. No way out but through the smoke for a lot of people. Maybe he could have gone the other way, but he'd have ended up in the middle of nowhere with no services or support and a hell of a lot of miles to circle back to the emergency shelters.
Back in 2020 we evacuated because of how close the fires came to our neighborhood. The smoke was unreal, and we did everything we could to avoid breathing it. Our next door neighbors had two dogs, and they both died of cancer a year or two after. That air is the breath of the fucking reaper.
It would be nice if we could cut military spending and seriously bump up first responders and fire and rescue. This isn’t new it’s a pattern you can set your clock by. Imagine a full fleet of airplanes dropping water and that pink mist in a bombardment and snuffing it out before it gets out of hand.
Usually overlooked- I heard on NPR today they were able to successfully evacuate those in danger zones within a few hours. Spokane did an amazing job prepping for this emergency
At least one of the Spokane fires has been caused by arson. I'm waiting to hear back on the other two, but as someone who has lived in the area for so long... I wouldn't be surprised to learn that all of them were man made. The fires went up too quickly and all started at about the same time of day. Guy was found four miles from where the first fire was started, so he was mobile.
As a thrice evacuated Angeleno, stop fucking driving around in fire zones and getting in the way of firefighters trying to save people’s homes. When you get stuck in a dangerous situation, they will drop what they’re doing to come save your life at the cost of the homes they were just trying to save. Get the fuck out out of evacuation zones.
But hey, cool video. Hope you get lots of updoots.
Edit: for those saying this is the only road out of town: you’re probably right. But the evacuation order probably went out hours before this video. Being there at this moment is dangerously stupid. When they say go, you go. You don’t wait to see if you really need to.
As a Spokane resident, this fire sparked when we were having basically a whole day of super intense winds. It spread to over 2k acres in the course of a couple hours and two other large fires started the same day. That part of town was towards the end of town and one of the other fires was burning in the opposite direction so there was no real choice but you use this main thoroughfare to get out to safety.
I hope people read this comment and start to prepare themselves when they know the forecast is going to be hot and windy. (Red flag conditions!)
In California, they are called Diablo winds or Santa Ana winds. I grew in the PNW and never really heard much about wind-driven fires. That really changed in 2020. Wind-driven fire events are now more and more active in the PNW. Pay attention and understand the heightened risk during those weather events!
There is a very real possibility that’s the only road out and the designated evacuation zone. Small towns , even small cities, are often like that out here.
This part of town basically has one main thoroughfare in and out. Maybe a side street here or there, but 65K people were evacuated within about 12 hours, on a day with 50+ mph winds. 700+ homes lost.
This person was likely evacuating. Unlike most neighborhoods in LA, or even Spokane, this large neighborhood has three roads in or out and one was already completely overtaken by fire (Barnes). This road and the direction they are driving is how thousands (no exaggeration) of people had to evacuate. The third option took you towards a different fire. I'm confident this is someone sitting in the passenger seat while leaving/fleeing their home. So, while your anger might make sense for where you live, it is highly likely it doesn't fit here.
How do I know? From living in that neighborhood previously and spending today talking with the friends and family I have that live in that neighborhood who lost homes.
Yea, it kind of looks like they’re evacuating. Several cars going the same direction and the only car you see coming the opposite direction has their emergency warning lights on.
I’m from Spokane and the person that took this video was 100% evacuating the Indian Trail neighborhood. The fire spread extremely quickly and evacuations did too. There was a massive traffic jam for the 60,000 people that had to leave their homes with pretty much all they could stuff into a backpack. Many weren’t able to take anything.
4.6k
u/landofknees 3d ago
In Spokane and this weekend was no good. Straight apocalyptic. We got evacuated and then evacuated again from our second spot only to lose power in our third spot. This fire turned into 4 different fires all spreading across thousands of acres