Scientists warn Spokane wildfires signal rising risk across U.S. suburbs
The August 1-3 Spokane fires, which burned over 10,000 acres and destroyed more than 700 structures, illustrate a growing pattern of large, fast-moving wildfires linked to climate change, drought and expanding development in fire-prone areas.
More than 10,000 acres burned and over 700 structures were lost as three wildfires erupted near Spokane, Washington, on Aug. 1, prompting officials to warn that similar events could affect suburbs across the United States. The fires forced an estimated 65,000 residents to evacuate and highlighted a shift toward larger, faster-moving blazes that firefighters say are occurring more frequently than two decades ago.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, described the recent conditions as “hot, dry, and windy in the short term” combined with “severe to extreme drought,” noting that this pattern has repeated “over and over again.” He added that the recurring destruction of homes in suburban areas has become “a recurring pattern we’re seeing … starting in the second decade of the 21st century and now continuing essentially every year.”
Bobbie Scopa, a retired fire operations chief and author, said when flames spread from house to house the event becomes an “urban conflagration,” emphasizing that fire seasons are now longer and start earlier, allowing fires to grow larger. She recalled that a 12,000-acre fire once seemed extraordinary, but such incidents are now routine.
A U.S. Geological Survey analysis of fires that destroyed ten or more structures between 2002 and 2022 found that half of those incidents occurred in the most recent seven-year period, and two-thirds of fires that destroyed more than 100 homes happened during that time. The National Interagency Fire Center reported 86 uncontained large fires in 14 states on Aug. 6, with 100 new wildfires reported the day before.
Jennifer Marlon, senior research scientist at the Yale School of the Environment, said record-breaking snow droughts in the Northwest have been intensified by climate change, which also contributes to longer fire seasons and drier vegetation. While she cautioned that no single factor causes every fire, she described climate change as an “amplifier of what would have occurred anyway.”
Experts highlighted the need for improved forest-management policies, firefighting resources and community preparedness, such as maintaining roofs, gutters and defensible space around homes. Swain warned that ignoring any contributing factor—climate trends, drought, or development patterns—would overlook a critical part of the problem.