So far, this wildfire season is much quieter than in past years. We haven’t seen the large wildfires we typically see by now, and we’ve seen only a couple smoky days all summer long. However, fire officials are warning the public against getting complacent about fire safety, as we still have weeks left of fire season.
In fact, some of our most destructive fires ignited late in the season – like 1991’s Firestorm.
On October 16, 1991, Spokane hadn’t seen rain in 42 days. The wind began to pick up, exceeding 50 miles per hour. Chaos quickly broke out.
More than 80 fires broke out that day, killing two people, destroying 112 homes and burning more than 50,000 acres.
“It looked like an atomic bomb hit here, and I didn’t have nothing left,” one man remembers.