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Spokane wildfires destroy over 700 structures as 64,000 flee fast-moving Washington blazes

The Jerusalem Post · back to the audit

Wildfires raging on the outskirts of Spokane, Washington, for a third day have destroyed at least 700 buildings and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in and around Washington state's second-most populous city, officials said on Monday.

"There's a high probability that will change in the coming days," incident command spokesperson Benjamin Cossel said of the expected death toll.

The blazes were turning "from a wildfire to an urban conflagration," Cossel said.

"The worst thing in the world is to let people go home only to have to evacuate them again 24 to 48 hours later," Cossel said.

64,000 under immediate evacuation orders Monday, up from 4,000 a day earlier; at least 700 structures destroyed, mostly homes; aerial infrared surveys suggest possibly another 400 buildings damaged or destroyed; no deaths or injuries reported; an unspecified number of people missing; about 1,100 firefighters on the Spokane blazes; none of the three fires contained as of Monday; three blazes scorched more than 8,000 acres since erupting Saturday in suburbs on Spokane's northern fringe.