SPOKANE, WA – When the only way out of a heavily treed neighborhood on a normal weekday is called “Malfunction Junction,” wildfire preparedness is essential. A fire evacuation drill on Saturday morning, May 3, put the intersection of 14th and Lindeke Street in Spokane through a test of emergency systems.
According to a post-drill survey, 75% of Grandview/Thorpe neighborhood residents participated in the real-time rollout of evacuation Levels 1, 2 and 3. The scenario was designed around a hypothetical fire approaching from the southwest corner of the neighborhood and moving rapidly northeast based on National Weather Service modeling.
It was an exercise of alert systems and human responses. Gaps in state and county-level alert systems were tracked. One participant described receiving the alert and waiting 10 minutes before getting in their car to simulate taking time to grab important documents and memorabilia. Observers at key intersections counted 237 vehicles loaded for evacuation with kids and pets. Traffic backup during the simulation was documented.
The local neighborhood council spearheaded the event, working in coordination with the city of Spokane’s Director of Emergency Management, Sarah Nuss.
“This drill was smooth and successful because of the support of a core group of neighborhood volunteers,” she said, and because of the council’s support, “we had good resident engagement.”
The American Red Cross was also on hand to roll out its education program for May, which is Wildfire Preparedness Month.
“It’s a community we really wanted to work with because of their wildfire risk,” said Hannah Christen, regional preparedness manager for Red Cross. “Local emergency management also wanted to do evacuation work because of the bottleneck in that neighborhood. There’s only one way in and one way out.”
Red Cross volunteers piloted their wildfire preparedness education program in Washington in 2023, expanding it into the northwest region.
Outreach is continuing to grow across the western United States.
A second event was held on May 17 in Yakima’s Meadowbrook Estates neighborhood. Additional education events are scheduled for North Bend on June 7 and Eatonville on June 21.
For residents in a wildland-urban interface zone, known as a WUI, preparedness is about more than having a “go” bag ready for evacuation. Given that 90% of homes catch fire from embers thrown miles ahead of a wildfire into dense residential areas, preparedness is about more than having a “go” bag.
Volunteers in the Red Cross program go door to door, advising on how to “firewise” property before the first sparks fly upward. It’s all part of increasing the chances of a home surviving a wildfire.
Hot embers caught the Grandview/Thorp neighborhood’s attention. On Aug. 3, 2023, an arsonist set a fire in the nearby Finch Arboretum. The blaze grew rapidly from a half-acre initial size up to five acres, starting spot fires on both sides of Interstate 90, including in the Grandview/Thorp neighborhood.
The resulting traffic jam of evacuees and a developer’s plans for hundreds of additional infill housing units focused the Grandview/Thorpe Neighborhood Council volunteers on preparedness and a successful fire drill in 2025.
“The Red Cross would love to bring this to more communities at risk,” Christen said. “A local volunteer workforce makes this so much more successful.”
She described the alignment of the Red Cross outreach with a real-time evacuation drill as serendipitous.
“I think it would be a best practice moving forward,” she said.
Other participants included the city of Spokane Fire and Police departments, Washington State Patrol, Spokane County Department of Emergency Management, and Spokane County Fire District 3.