Wildfires burning across the Spokane, Washington, area have scorched more than 8,000 acres and destroyed at least 600 structures, forcing widespread evacuations in a disaster officials warn is drawing comparisons to Southern California’s catastrophic Palisades and Eaton fires.
The comparison highlights the severe neighborhood-level destruction. The Palisades Fire, which ignited in Pacific Palisades on January 7, 2025, and was fueled by powerful Santa Ana winds, burned 23,448 acres across parts of Malibu and Topanga, destroying 6,845 structures and killing 12 people before it was fully contained later that month.
While the Washington fires are far smaller in acreage, the scale of neighborhood damage recalls the destruction seen during the Palisades disaster. The blazes arrive amid what Washington Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove termed an “extraordinary fire season” across the Pacific Northwest, deploying thousands of personnel statewide…