Looking west on West Excell Avenue at the intersection of North Sutherlin Street, you’ll see nothing but homes burned to the ground for as far as the eye can see.
And there’s so much more that the eye can’t see. In northwest Spokane, barricades block streets surrounding the worst of the destruction, and in some areas, vehicles aren’t able to enter or exit.
Evacuees are living in a state of purgatory. Along Indian Trail Road, residents are transporting their belongings and supplies on foot, in wagons, on Lime scooters, on bicycles — or they’re taking rides from neighbors who have space in their vehicles inside the evacuation zones.
And the trio of fires are raging on. A large portion of the Balboa neighborhood was completely leveled by the Old Trails Fire, and it continues to burn, as do the Autumn Lane and Fairview fires…