SPOKANE, Wash. — In a press conference on Friday, August 4, Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said that the Sunset Wildfire, which burned near the Finch Arboretum on Thursday, was intentionally set.
Schaeffer stated that crews were battling a naturally caused fire while four others were deliberately set in the area.
"They were in close proximity to our location here, so they are definitely suspicious," Schaeffer said.
The wildfire prompted Level 3 (Go Now!) evacuations for people living on Deska Drive to the west, A Street to the east, I-90 to the south and the North end of the Indian Canyon Golf Course. Those evacuations have since been downgraded to Level 1 (Get Ready!).
Schaeffer expressed his frustration with the situation, as people faced difficulties evacuating as the fire grew.
"We're intentionally evacuating people under Level 3 (Go Now!) evacuation, and the fires are prohibiting their exit," Schaeffer said. "It doesn't get any more serious than that."
"Some of the details we know right now are that we are at eight acres in the area between all the different fires," Schaeffer said. "We had no injuries from any of the fires, and there was no property loss."
Schaeffer stated that investigators have ruled out any possibility of an accidental cause.
"All of the accidental causes have been ruled out," Schaeffer said. "That's why I'm moving forward with the intentional category."
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.