Spokane Fires Complex
August 3 – August 10, 2026 Updated Aug 10
Every published chapter of The Fold's coverage of Spokane Fires Complex, in one place — oldest to newest, updated as the story develops.
Spokane’s Old Trails fire destroyed a building for every 6.6 acres. No other fire in the country is close
Three fires that started within three and a half hours of each other on Saturday have taken 660 structures — 38% of everything the national fire report records as lost, on 0.31% of its acreage. All three were still at zero containment on Monday morning.
Avista told investors about the Spokane fires in an 8-K. The 10-Q it filed the same day does not mention them
The Spokane utility filed three documents on Monday. One describes fires burning through its service territory; the quarterly report filed alongside it lists a different incident as its only subsequent event.
Spokane fires: an arson arrest over Old Trails, and the engines are moving to Autumn Lane
Spokane County detectives booked a man for first-degree arson over the Old Trails fire. All three fires are still uncontained, and Autumn Lane took most of Monday's reinforcements.
Washington has drawn nine federal fire declarations this year, a record — four of them in Spokane County
FEMA’s record goes back to 1970 and no year had more than eight by this date. Spokane County had never had more than two; it took four in 46 days, three of them in one night.