We want people to be safe.
This is our first priority.
Is saving lives. Tonight,
Governor Jay Inslee issuing a se
of emergency as three major firs
surge across Eastern Washington.
Plus as Level 3 evacuations
continue at this hour,
the Medical Lake Mayor is
talking with KREM too.
It's devastating, but also we ae
a very strong community.
Air quality alerts in place for hazardous
air across the Inland Northwest.
I'll let you know when you
can expect some relief.
Plus, more than 24 hours after leaving
their homes, evacuees anxiouslyt
as the organ fire continues to .
You can replace some of that st.
You can't replace fires.
Good evening, everyone. Thank yu
for staying up late with us here
on Crempton News at 11. I'm Whitney Ward.
Welcome, everyone. I'm Mark Handrahan.
We start tonight with breaking s
as Spokane County remains under
a state of emergency for major
wildfires burning across the re.
And just here in the last few h,
Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of
emergency for the entire state as well.
That means additional resourcesl
become available to help fight the fire
and then eventually to help in recovery.
So let's take a look at all thre
fires burning across the Northw.
The Oregon Rd. Fire near Elk has
grown to more than 8000 acres in size,
or roughly 5 1/2 miles
long by 2 1/2 miles wide.
It has destroyed more than two n
structures, is threatening many more,
and it is forcing hundreds
of people to evacuate.
And down in Whitman County,
crews are starting to get a
handle on the Winona fire.
However,
Level 1 evacuations remain in p.
So
we begin taking a closer
look now at the Gray fire.
At this hour, the entire city of
Medical Lake is still under Lev.
Go Now evacuations.
According to the Department of
Natural Resources, the Gray fire
has killed at least one person.
It is roughly burned 10,000 acr,
and it's destroyed at least 185 structures,
many of them primary homes. The
fire started early yesterday afternoon
and extreme weather conditions n
drove those flames in immediatey
into the town of Medical Lake,
prompting those Level 3 evacuat.
DNR warning Those who are under
evacuation orders need to stay
out of the evacuation areas,
so we recommend if they're in the Level 3
evacuation zones to not enter those zones.
They're still quite hazardous,
and we've got active fire
suppression activities going on
and a lot of large fire apparats
moving quickly on those roads.
And it can slow down the
effectiveness of our operations,
and it can also be an unsafe
place for them to be.
It is not clear yet on how many
of those structures are homes,
but officials did say they expet
the number of structures burned
to grow as hundreds of homes
are still threatened tonight.
Well, the entire town of Medical Lake,
where nearly 5000 people live,
they were forced to evacuate yesterday,
and at this point, it's not cler
when they'll be allowed to retu.
Amanda Rowley is continuing our
coverage on the Gray fire tonig.
She is joining us now,
live from the evacuation centert
up at Spokane Falls Community College.
Amanda, you spoke with the Medil
Lake Mayor exclusively today.
That's right.
Mayor Terry Cooper told me it.
She toured Medical Lake early this morning.
She says the school's post offi,
City Hall and some businesses
are still standing.
But beyond that,
she says the destruction from
this fire is devastating.
I've experienced the house fire and I
had another family member the s.
So I understand the trauma and e
devastation that these people ae
going to feel. These are my fri.
I'm driving by homes that I know the family,
So you know, it touches me.
You know, deep in my heart,
I'm praying for them.
Mayor Cooper's message to the Medical
Lake community is her heart is with you
and she's hopeful in moving forward. Now.
Tonight, about 90 people are checked into
the Evacuation Shelter Evacuation Shelter
at Spokane Falls Community Coll.
Throughout the day,
I've seen several people droppig
off clothing and water donation.
The Red Cross is also hoping to
set up a mobile shower station
outside the shelter soon.
Now at this time,
the Red Cross is saying the
best way to help these evacuees
is through monetary donations.
They say they have all the
supplies they need right now,
so the best way to support them
is through monetary donations.
And you can do that by visiting
the American Red Cross website.
And be sure to click on the My
Local Red Cross tab that ensures
that your money stays right here
in the Inland Northwest.
Amanda Rowley, Creme 2 News.
All right,
Amanda, Thank you very much.
And more help could soon be
on the way from the state.
Just hours ago, Washington
Governor Jay Inslee issued a
state of emergency for these
fires in Eastern Washington.
The Washington Military Departmt
has activated a state emergency
operations center that also activates
the state and National Guard and
opens up statewide resources to
help minimize wildfire danger.
We've all got to pull together
now more than ever. Let's think
of the people in Spokane
and during the recovery as
well. Be safe.
And another important message
tonight is if you are still
trying to get in contact with a
loved one that the Spokane Couny
Sheriff's Office is urging you,
call crime check. Sheriff
John Knowles says it is importat
to let authorities know so theyn
start keeping track of those who
are still unaccounted for tonig.
If you were aware of somebody wo
lived there in the area of this
fire who you can't get a hold o,
we're asking that you call crime check,
make a missing persons report.
And that is the most effective d
most efficient way for us to get
those people who we need to be e
baby still in the area and get
resources to try to locate them.
So that is something that's
very critical and again
it is critical for you to stay
out of those evacuation zones.
Instead, again they say call crime check,
report that as a missing persont
number is at the bottom of your screen.
You can also find it on our web.
Just go to Creme Comm
Another big story that
we are tracking tonight.
Road and freeway closures.
As the Gray fire continues to b.
I-90 has been shut down in
both directions for more
than 24 hours at this point.
Yeah, we have some great video
from Wash dot along I-90.
Those closures stretching from e
town of Sprague at milepost 245l
the way to the US to interchange
and you can see the conditions
that they were talking about.
That's about 32 miles of freeway that
are currently closed and there e
multiple detours in place for travelers.
So take a look at your screen.
All travelers who are headed
eastbound through Spokane must t
off at the Sprague exit and then
use State Route 23 to 231 to US,
or they can use State Route 23 o
US195 or State Route 23 to 28 and U S2.
Meanwhile, all westbound travels
must get off at US2 and divert through
Davenport via State Route 23 to
28 before reconnecting at Sprag.
All semi trucks must use State Route 28
and 23 as they continue around the fires.
We spoke with Ryan Overton fromh
dot E He said his biggest concen
as portions of State Route 94 ae
closed is that firefighting equipment.
Really the big impact right nows
the fire itself being so close
to State Route 904 because thats
the detour point around
I-90 at this point into Cheney.
We can't have traffic
on that roadway with
firefighting equipment making
its way that direction.
And as those Rd.
closures continue to change,
Wash dot E is encouraging
everyone to watch their Twitter
page for the latest information.
We also have those updates
on our website right now.
Just go to Crim Comm.
All right. Now let's take our ft
look at the forecast with Chief
Meteorologist Jeremy the Goo.
Jeremy, our air quality remains
in the four hundreds or that
hazardous category. Yeah.
Jeremy, the big question now
is how much longer do we have
to deal with all this smoke?
I do think the smoke kind of sts
around all weekend long and youn
see it right there over downtow.
But let's talk air quality.
As Mark mentioned, we sit at 48.
This is the highest air quality
level I have ever seen.
489 puts us well above hazardou.
To put this in perspective,
hazardous starts at 300.
We are at 489 and likely going to stay
hazardous through much of the day tomorrow.
For that reason,
we are under air quality alertst
remain in place through Monday morning.
Let's put the smoke in motion.
Notice it doesn't really
go anywhere overnight.
That's due to light winds
across much of the region.
Smoke kind of sticks around.
We don't really see a shift
in much until Monday.
Now when it comes to Monday,
we have a chance of rain
and a change in wind.
Rain cannot clean an atmosphere
to the level that we need it to.
If you hear someone saying that,
just tell them it's the wind.
Wind shifting to more southerly is what
is going to blow the smoke out of the
region that is going to clear us out.
An added benefit of that
shift is going to be the rain.
Unrelated rain will not clear the atmosphere.
It is going to be the shift in
wind direction tomorrow likely
winds up as smoky as today.
Then Monday we'll see a few
of those scattered showers.
Tuesday,
those showers kind of stick aro,
but overall we are starting to a
much calmer atmosphere return te
region when it comes to the two fires.
First,
the Gray fire wind out of the
north at 5 to 10 mph is relativy
light and it likely stays that .
Similar story off to the north
for the Oregon Rd.
fire.
Wind out of the Northeast at
six mph likely stays that way
for the rest of the evening.
That is good news for these
continuous wildfires.
All right, Jeremy, thank you vey
much. We'll check back in with you later in the broadcast. Bece
of our hazardous air quality,
the city of Spokane has opened a
safe air center where residents
can escape the dangerous air.
Yeah, all Spokane Library locat,
except for the Hilliard
branch will be open to use,
as well as the Trent Resource Center.
That Trent shelter will be open
24 hours a day while the Air
Quality Index remains hazardous,
and the libraries will open
from noon to 4:00 tomorrow,
then from 9:00 AM to 7:00
PM Monday through Thursday.
Also, the Spokane Transit Authoy
Plaza will be open until 11:30 tonight,
then from 6:00 in the
morning to 9:30 PM tomorrow.
STA also offering free rides
to any of these centers.
Now still to come tonight,
we are taking a look at the
other fires burning across
Spokane and Whitman counties.
The latest info coming up
here in just 90 seconds.