SPOKANE, Wash – Investigators narrowed down the location where a devastating fire started last June, but because of the destruction, can’t pinpoint exactly what started it.
The Upriver Fire broke out just after noon on June 26th just north of the Spokane River. Spokane County Fire District 9 just released the final investigation report.
According to the report, a man on the other side of the river initially saw a small cloud of white smoke, but reported it quickly spread due to high winds.
The fire forced hundreds of people to evacuate and ultimately burned 212 acres and destroyed 14 homes.
Early on, investigators narrowed the suspected source of the fire to a home at 4008 N. Upriver Bend Lane.
Investigators contacted the owner of the home who lives in Phoenix. The homeowner said he bought the home two years before; it had previously belonged to his wife’s great grandfather.
The house was built in 1890, with additions made in 1903 and 1907. There was also an apple house on the property.
The homeowner told investigators the house was mostly cleaned out, except for a vacuum cleaner, a ladder, two chairs, a few canning jars and dishes, the gas furnace and a wood cook stove in the kitchen.
The electricity was still on, but the main breaker panel was turned to the off position.
The homeowner also said he’d seen no evidence of electrical use on his recent bill.
The first person on the scene of the fire that day was a man who lived nearby on Upriver Bend Lane and is a relative of the homeowner. He walked up the driveway when he saw smoke and saw fire coming from the middle of the house.
That witness lived in the house for several years in the 1990s. He said he saw signs of forced entry into the house in 2025, noting one of the door panels had been kicked in.
As the fire was being fought on June 16th, fire investigators were concerned someone might be in the home because of reports of break-ins and evidence of homeless camps nearby.
They searched the home with a K9 but did not find evidence of anyone inside.
Investigators found evidence a spot nearby where a stove pipe had been used to create a fire pit. They also took the electrical panel from the burned home and found the breaker switch in the on position.
Fire investigators determined the house and an apple house on the property were “burned to extinction” with nothing left standing but the foundations.
That means they could not analyze the interior for burn patterns that could have revealed the ignition source.
“Due to the structure burning to extinction we are not left with enough data to determine what fuel was ignited first,” investigators wrote.”
The investigation report notes “there is much homeless activity” in the area around the house.
“We cannot rule out the possibility that a fire was started by a homeless person looking for shelter in the house and causing the wildland fire,” investigators wrote. “We were not able to recover any evidence to prove that hypothesis either.”
Because of all those factors and the ability to prove any of the hypotheses, investigators say the cause of the Upriver Fire is undetermined.
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