Authorities arrested a 37-year-old man on suspicion of deliberately starting the largest of three fires burning around Spokane, and he is now in pre-trial detention. About 64,000 people had been evacuated and some 700 buildings destroyed by Monday.
Eastern Washington state faces wildfires centred on the Spokane area, the region's largest population centre. Responsibility for fighting them is split between federal, state and local agencies, whose combined resources are limited. Bota has followed the fires since the first reports in early August 2026.
Authorities arrested a 37-year-old man on suspicion of deliberately starting the largest of three fires burning around Spokane in Washington state, and Le Monde reported on Wednesday that he has been placed in pre-trial detention. Officials said about 64,000 people had been evacuated by Monday and around 700 buildings destroyed.
Fires spread at high speed through Spokane in Washington state on Sunday, and the mayor said hundreds of homes and structures had been lost, Le Monde reported. None of the three fires in the city of 230,000 people was contained; a state of emergency was declared on Saturday and about 60,000 people were evacuated.
Wildfires in and around Spokane in eastern Washington state have destroyed some 600 structures and forced about 60,000 people from their homes, the Guardian reported on Monday. The blazes have stretched the capacity of federal and local agencies to fight them.