SPOKANE, Wash. — More than two weeks after the Old Trails Fire forced over 60,000 people to evacuate their homes, law enforcement agencies are reflecting on what worked during the crisis and what needs improvement.
The evacuation began shortly after the Old Trails Fire started, with deputies and police officers conducting door-to-door operations to alert residents. As the fire grew rapidly, so did the number of people forced to flee their homes. The situation became more complex when the Autumn Lane Fire also sparked, closing off some of the usual evacuation, and when the Fairview Fire put additional strain on resources.
“We get to knock on every single door and, and mark, whether somebody is there or whether they’re not, whether they’re sheltering in place and doing that as the fire is quickly outrunning our ability to knock on those doors,” Sheriff John Nowels said.
One of the most significant challenges during the evacuation was the severe traffic congestion on roads leading out of the affected neighborhoods. Thousands of residents from areas including Indian Trail, 5 Mile Prairie, and 9 Mile headed in the same direction simultaneously, creating standstill traffic that left people waiting hours to escape.
Resident Robert witnessed the dangerous conditions firsthand and expressed his fear about what could have happened if the fire had continued advancing.
“If this fire doesn’t stop, people are going to be burned in their cars waiting to get off the prairie. It was frightening,” Robert said.
Law enforcement identified potential solutions to prevent similar bottlenecks in future evacuations. Sheriff Nowels emphasized that dedicating available resources to traffic management as soon as possible is critical. The Spokane Police Department noted they are able to open roads that typically operate in both directions and converted them to one-way evacuation routes to move people out faster.
“I will say from a larger scale, we’re watching where the fire is and the threat and the location of some of the standing traffic. And understand we had plans,” Captain Shawn Kendall of the Spokane Police Department said.
Despite the traffic challenges, law enforcement highlighted significant successes in the evacuation response. Including sheriff deputies and police officers door-to-door operations and the coordination amongst multiple agencies.
“A lot of things that we didn’t predict came up. And we just adjusted and, you know, I still am proud of our officers and deputies on how they performed that day,” said Kendall.
Both the Police Department and Sheriff’s Office have committed to conducting comprehensive debrief meetings to analyze the evacuation response in detail. These sessions will focus on identifying specific improvements and developing enhanced protocols for managing large-scale evacuations in the future.
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