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There will be a community meeting tomorrow, August 23, at 7:00 p.m. in Medical Lake.  Representatives from local agencies and Northwest Team 7 will be sharing updates about the fire, its impacts, and next steps.

Today’s Activities: Firefighters are making good progress mopping up the edges of the fire, connecting pieces of containment lines, and confirming previously created dozer lines.  Within the interior of the fire, firefighters are successfully expanding the areas they can safely reach and work in.  They are also looking for areas that didn’t burn to secure fire edges and reduce the chances of fire spreading into unburned areas.  Wildland fire crews and state mobilization crews are mopping up around structures, setting up hose lays, and assessing burned structures for potential hazards. 

Many trees have been weakened by the fire, creating hazards for firefighters as some of these trees give way and fall.  Heavy fuels like large trees are still very dry and will continue to smolder despite the rain. 

Weather: Light rain started falling on the fire overnight and is expected to continue throughout today.  Continued high humidity levels have helped slow fire growth, especially in areas with lighter fuels like grasses. 

Evacuations: Spokane County Emergency Management reduced the evacuation levels in some areas, allowing about 4,000 residents to return to their homes.  Evacuation maps are posted on the Gray Fire Inciweb page and the Spokane County Emergency Management Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GEGEmergencyMgt.

The Red Cross shelter for people and their pets is located at Spokane Falls Community College.  The Spokane County Fairgrounds is available to shelter large animals or livestock from evacuated areas.

Interstate 90: I-90 has opened in both directions.  State Route (SR) 904 is also open.  SR 902 is open partially, but closed between Salnave Rd. and Campbell Rd. 

The Gray Fire Incident Command Post will be moving tomorrow morning to Pine Lodge in Medical Lake.  NW Team 7 appreciates Cheney Middle School for being generous hosts for fire personnel and wishes all incoming students a successful school year.

ADDITIONAL FIRE & EMERGENCY INFORMATION:  

Gray Fire Information:

Phone: 509-903-5563, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Inciweb:  https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/wanes-gray-fire

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newfireinfo

Washington Smoke Blog: https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/ 

Spokane County Emergency Management (evacuations and pets & livestock concerns): https://www.facebook.com/GEGEmergencyMgt

Local Red Cross Support: https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html

WA DOT Highway Updates: https://wsdot.com/Travel/Real-time/Map/

Avista: https://www.myavista.com/outages

Inland Power: https://www.inlandpower.com/outages-emergencies