Wildfires Force Thousands to Evacuate

On 1 August 2026, residents of Spokane, Washington — a city of more than 230,000 people in the northwestern United States — woke to the smell of smoke and a terrifying message on their phones: "Leave NOW. This may be your only notice." At least three separate wildfires had broken out in and around the city, driven by extreme heat, dry conditions, and strong winds. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes with almost no warning.

Wildfires are not unusual in the western United States during summer. But fires burning inside a major city — forcing evacuations from residential neighbourhoods, destroying homes, and closing roads — represent a dangerous escalation of a problem that has been growing worse for decades. The Spokane fires are the latest in a series of devastating wildfire seasons that have affected communities across the American West, Canada, southern Europe, and Australia.

The images from Spokane were dramatic: orange skies, burned vehicles, families loading belongings into cars as flames approached. Emergency services worked around the clock to contain the fires and protect lives. Air quality in the city dropped to hazardous levels, and residents who could not evacuate were told to stay indoors with windows and doors sealed.

For many people watching from around the world, the Spokane fires raised a familiar and uncomfortable question: is this the new normal? Are wildfires becoming more frequent, more intense, and more dangerous — and if so, what can be done about it?

Scientists have been warning for years that climate change would make wildfires more frequent and more severe. The evidence now shows they were right. Global temperatures have risen significantly over the past century, and warmer temperatures create the perfect conditions for fire: drier vegetation, lower humidity, and longer fire seasons.

In the western United States, the fire season has extended by nearly three months compared to the 1970s. Snowpack — the snow that covers mountains during winter and melts slowly during spring and summer, keeping soil and vegetation moist — is melting earlier and faster than before. By the time summer arrives, the landscape is drier than it used to be, and dry vegetation burns more easily and more intensely.

But climate change is only part of the story. The way humans have managed forests and built communities has also contributed to the problem. For much of the 20th century, fire departments in the United States followed a policy of suppressing all wildfires as quickly as possible. This seemed logical at the time, but it had an unintended consequence: dead wood and dry brush accumulated on the forest floor for decades, creating enormous quantities of fuel. When a fire does start in these conditions, it burns hotter and faster than it would in a naturally maintained forest.

Urban sprawl has made the problem worse. As cities have expanded into areas surrounded by forests and grasslands — known as the wildland-urban interface — more people and more homes are exposed to fire risk. In the United States, an estimated 44 million homes are now in the wildland-urban interface, and this number is growing every year.

Behind every wildfire statistic is a human story. Losing your home to fire is one of the most devastating experiences a person can go through. Unlike a flood or a storm, where damaged belongings can sometimes be cleaned or repaired, fire destroys everything completely — photographs, documents, clothing, furniture, and irreplaceable personal items are reduced to ash in minutes.

The psychological impact of wildfire can be long-lasting. Research shows that people who have lost homes to fire frequently experience post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, and a persistent sense of insecurity. Children are particularly vulnerable — the experience of being evacuated from their home, watching their neighbourhood burn, and losing familiar surroundings can affect their mental health for years.

The economic costs are staggering. The 2023 wildfire that destroyed the town of Lahaina in Hawaii caused an estimated 5.5 billion dollars in damage and killed 102 people — the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century. Insurance companies are responding to increasing wildfire risk by raising premiums or withdrawing coverage entirely from high-risk areas, leaving homeowners unable to afford protection or unable to sell their homes.

Air quality is another major concern. Wildfire smoke contains fine particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream. During severe fire seasons, smoke from wildfires in the western United States has drifted thousands of kilometres, affecting air quality in cities as far away as New York and Washington, D.C. In 2023, wildfire smoke from Canada turned the sky over New York City orange — an image that shocked the world.

The health effects of wildfire smoke exposure include respiratory problems, heart disease, and increased hospital admissions. Children, elderly people, and those with existing health conditions are most at risk.

The question facing communities around the world is no longer whether wildfires will happen, but how to live with them. Scientists, firefighters, and urban planners are developing new approaches that acknowledge fire as a permanent part of the landscape rather than a temporary emergency.

One of the most promising approaches is prescribed burning — deliberately setting small, controlled fires to burn away the dead wood and brush that fuels larger, uncontrollable fires. Indigenous peoples in Australia, North America, and other regions have used this technique for thousands of years to manage landscapes and reduce fire risk. Modern fire management is increasingly adopting these traditional practices, recognising that preventing all fires leads to bigger and more dangerous fires later.

Building codes are also being updated. In fire-prone areas, new homes can be built with fire-resistant materials — metal roofs instead of wooden shingles, tempered glass windows, and non-flammable exterior walls. Creating defensible space around homes — clearing vegetation within 30 metres of the building — dramatically reduces the chance of a home catching fire during a wildfire.

Early warning systems have improved significantly. Satellite technology can now detect fires within minutes of ignition, and AI-powered systems can predict how a fire will spread based on weather conditions, terrain, and vegetation. These tools give emergency services and residents more time to respond — though as the Spokane fires showed, even with modern technology, the speed and unpredictability of wildfires can overwhelm even the best-prepared communities.

Ultimately, the most important response to the wildfire crisis is addressing its root cause: climate change. As long as global temperatures continue to rise, fire seasons will continue to lengthen, and fires will continue to intensify. Technology and better planning can reduce the damage, but only reducing greenhouse gas emissions can address the underlying problem.