Fires in Eastern Washington have officials ordering residents to evacuate

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — In Washington state, Spokane County officials have urged residents to evacuate as two separate fires have burned over 20,000 acres in the eastern portion of the state since Friday.

According to a report from the Spokane Valley Fire Department, one person has died, and Level 3 evacuation orders are in place, meaning “Leave Immediately.”

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources as well as Spokane County Emergency Management have both stated that both fires broke out on Friday and are zero percent contained.

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee issued a state of emergency yesterday and said that congress needs to fix how they handle wildfires in the west. Inslee said during a press conference on Sunday that “The whole federal system does not treat the Western United States fairly because it treats flood damage with much more care and sensitivity than it does fire damage.”

Inslee went on to say, “And for instance, and we’ve had several fires in the state where we did, we have not had federal assistance and frankly we should have, so we need the Congress to fix this system. We hope that we’ll be able to get it here. We’d have no idea whether maybe possible or not.”

35 mile an hour winds hampered crews who are working to get ahead of the fires. The Gray Fire has scorched nearly 11,000 acres including 185 structures in Medical Lake, and the Oregon Road Five near Elk, Wa., has burned over 9200 acres with over 150 homes still threatened by the fire.

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