Devastating wildfires burning out of control near Spokane, Washington, have destroyed at least 700 structures, including homes and businesses, but officials said on Monday that the overall loss remains uncertain.
"It's unprecedented in this community. Frankly, it's unprecedented in many areas of this country," Tom Clemo, the fire incident commander, said at a news conference on Monday with Gov. Bob Ferguson.
While Clemo said that over the last 48 hours, three major fires burning in the Spokane area have destroyed "upwards of 700" structures.
"But there's still large question marks about the total loss," Clemo said.
He noted damage assessments in 1,100 areas have been difficult to figure out and will require the assistance of satellites to determine the full scope of the disaster.
"The next week or so is going to be extremely difficult as we start to grasp the overwhelming amount of damage," Clemo said.
Ferguson said he requested on Sunday that a federal disaster declaration be declared for six Washington counties hit hard by the fires, including Spokane, Stevens, Chelan, Okanogan, Yakima and Ferry counties. He said the disaster declaration would also cover three tribal nations -- Spokane, Colville and Yakima.
"From a historical standpoint, this is likely the worst natural disaster in Spokane's history," said Ferguson, describing the fires as a "nightmare situation."
While no injuries or deaths have been confirmed, the Spokane County Sheriff's Office said 14 people remain unaccounted for on Monday.
The wildfires broke out over the weekend across the Spokane area, fueled by very strong winds combined with extremely dry conditions.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized on Sunday the use of federal funds to battle several fires, including the Autumn Lane Fire in Spokane County.
As of Monday afternoon, that fire, which was still 0% contained, and two others -- the Old Trails and the Fairview fires -- in nearby counties had together burned more than 8,000 acres, according to officials.
All three fires ignited on Saturday afternoon, authorities said. Together, the three fires are being called the Spokane Complex Fire.
Very dangerous air quality is expected on Monday in Spokane due to the widespread dense smoke.
Among the more than 60,000 people evacuated as a result of the fire, homeowner Aric Frank returned to his residence in the hills above Spokane on Monday to find it reduced to rubble. Only the chimney remained standing.
"It's absolutely heartbreaking," the 64-year-old Frank, a retired emergency room nurse, told ABC affiliate station KXLY in Spokane as he surveyed the damage.
Frank said he was planning to trim the hedges around his home on Saturday when he noticed the fire getting closer and closer. He said he climbed up on the roof of his home to get a better look at the location of the fire and check a rooftop sprinkler system he had installed as a precaution.
"My whole house was being saturated the whole time and I thought I'd be OK," he told KXLY.
But then the wind shifted, and "a ball of fire" came up the hillside toward him home and rolled over a set of trees onto his property, he said.
"I was on the roof, and I couldn’t see my feet and I had to feel my way down the ladder because everything just turned black," Frank said. "It was like someone flipped the lights off and I couldn’t breathe either."
He said the fire burned the hair off his arms, but he managed to escape the home he has lived in with his family since 1980.
"It's just stuff," Frank said of his loss. "I don't think I'm going to rebuild here because I don't ever want to relive a fire coming up this hill again."
Although fire weather conditions have greatly improved across the Pacific Northwest, poor air quality will continue due to the wildfire smoke across the region and conditions remain very dry. Widespread and very strong wind and extreme fire danger have subsided.
The fire danger has now shifted further east across the Intermountain West and Plains where several states from Montana to Nebraska are under Red Flag Warnings due to strong winds and low humidity. These conditions could easily spark or spread wildfires.
More than two thirds of the West continue to experience drought conditions of varying intensity. In Oregon, more than half of the state is facing severe drought conditions, with roughly 20% of the state currently experiencing an extreme drought.
Wildfires have burned so far this season more than 1.8 million acres in Oregon, mostly in rural areas, with at least 33 uncontained large wildfires currently burning across the state as of Monday morning.
Extreme and record heat continued all weekend across the West. Monday was to be cooler across the Northwest and Northern Rockies, but the heat is expected to continue across the Southwest and Central and Southern Rockies, where numerous extreme heat warnings and heat advisories remain in effect.
Extreme heat warnings remain in place for Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Palm Springs, where high temperature will top 110 degrees this week.
Heat advisories continue across much of California, stretching into western Oregon. The extreme heat is over now in the Los Angeles area, although it will still be warm; it will not be as hot as it was over the weekend.
Denver could reach 100 degrees on Monday, which would tie the daily record high before cooler air arrives on Tuesday. Albuquerque could also reach a daily a record high on Monday of 104 degrees, topping the old record of 99.