Crews at Incident Command reported favorable weather helped firefighters make significant progress on the wildfires burning in the Spokane area. All three fires, Old Trails, Fairview, and Autumn Lane, now have some containment, according to KXLY.
The estimate places Fairview at 5% containment and both Old Trails and Autumn Lane at 13%. More importantly, fire lines have been fully drawn around every fire, giving crews a clear path to increase containment in the coming days.
Full fire lines around all three fires mean crews can now focus on strengthening control lines and extinguishing hot spots.
Firefighters are hopeful that evacuation levels will be downgraded this afternoon, allowing more residents to return home. Officials are urging people to check the latest evacuation map before moving.
This event is not in California. The Fairview Fire referenced here is part of the Spokane area incident in Washington state, not a California blaze. For California residents, the main takeaway is that wildfire containment status can change quickly and local evacuation orders should always be followed.
The three fires are part of an ongoing wildfire response in eastern Washington. Incident Command uses containment percentages to show how much of the fire perimeter is secured, and completed fire lines are a key step before evacuation orders can be lifted.
Containment progress on all three Spokane-area fires is encouraging, but the situation is not over. Residents should keep monitoring official maps and alerts. Firefighters expect to expand containment as favorable weather holds.