SPOKANE — The Moyer family had just minutes to flee their Mulvaney Court home earlier this week as the Upriver Fire closed in, destroying the house where they had lived for 20 years. Their home was one of an estimated 14 lost in the blaze.
Chris Moyer said the fire moved faster than he anticipated, leaving little time to think or plan.
“The way the smoke was moving and the wind was moving, I said ‘This fire is not, you know, a mile from us anymore. This is, like, maybe, a few hundred yards away,'” he said.
With the fire bearing down, the family made split-second decisions about what to take. His wife, Andren, grabbed cash and her wedding pearls on the way out the door. Their son Carson and the family dog, Grover, also made it out safely.
Back at the property, the family stood at the edge of what was once their basement and surveyed the wreckage. A patio set they had arranged the night before the fire — and never got to use — sat among the debris. The charred remains of a family piano and the skeletal frame of Andren’s PT Cruiser were also visible in the rubble.
“It looks like a graveyard. And it was, really, for all the things we remember, all the things we cherish,” Chris Moyer said.
Music was a cornerstone of life in the Moyer home. While the family managed to save some of their instruments during the frantic evacuation, many were lost to the flames.
For Andren Moyer, the loss of possessions — as painful as it is — takes a back seat to something deeper.
“All the memories. Our children grew up here,” she said.
She also acknowledged the challenge of keeping perspective in the face of so much loss.
“It’s stuff. And we’re all safe, and we’re grateful for that,” she said.
The family is currently staying at a relative’s house as they work through their next steps. Despite the scale of the loss, Chris Moyer said the support pouring in from neighbors, friends and the broader Spokane community has been a source of strength.
“There’s good that comes out of this, because there’s people that care. And they rally around you in a way that you never imagined,” he said.
The Spokane music community is organizing a benefit concert next week to raise funds for the Moyer family.
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