Spokane area fires expose evacuation challenges as region grows with new housing developments

SPOKANE, Wash. — The recent wildfires that swept through the Spokane area forced one of the region’s largest mass evacuations, moving 65,000 people out of their homes in a matter of hours. But the experience exposed a critical vulnerability: the infrastructure simply couldn’t handle the volume of traffic fleeing the danger.

Now, as developers propose hundreds of new housing units in and around the affected areas, some people who live nearby are asking: what happens the next time a fire forces an evacuation?

Allison Mohr and her husband Jim Davis experienced the evacuation firsthand when they were forced to leave their home in the Indian Trail neighborhood. Like thousands of others, they found themselves stuck in gridlock on Indian Trail Road, a bottleneck that turned a dangerous situation into a terrifying one. The pair eventually deciding to wait at home until the traffic had cleared.

“Shock. Disbelief? Yeah. Fear. Yeah. Because, you know, people burn to death in their cars in and Pacific. And that was running through my mind a lot,” Mohr said.

The couple’s concerns intensified when they learned about a proposed development at Excelsior Wellness that would bring up to 300 new residential units to the area. Excelsior has clarified that the official number of units hasn’t been finalized yet. The couple worry that adding hundreds more residents — and the vehicles that come with them — would only worsen evacuation gridlock if another fire strikes.

“We’re going to have more fires. Climate change is real. There’s no question about it. And it’s unconscionable that they will allow this building without corresponding investments in infrastructure,” Davis said.

The infrastructure gaps residents are concerned about include wider roads with additional lanes to handle increased traffic during emergencies. Similar concerns have surfaced around other housing projects throughout the county.

Neighbors worry that hundreds of additional vehicles would funnel onto Highway 291 during an evacuation, potentially creating the same dangerous congestion that occurred during the recent fires.

Despite these concerns, both the City of Spokane and Spokane County officials worked to reassure the community that evacuation preparedness is not being overlooked. Both entities confirmed that emergency evacuation scenarios are considered when new housing developments are proposed, and that there are rules in place about how many access roads are required depending on the size of development.