August 7, 2026
Wildfire Update | August 7, 2026 | 2 min read
The Old Trails Fire tore into northwest Spokane on August 1, jumping the Spokane River and burning directly into city neighborhoods, now confirmed as the most destructive wildfire in Washington state history. As containment slowly builds and evacuees begin returning home, the smoke this fire produced raises a filtration question most wildfire coverage skips.
The Old Trails Fire, along with the neighboring Autumn Lane and Fairview fires (together managed as the Spokane Area Fires), destroyed roughly 700 to 900 structures and forced nearly 65,000 people to evacuate after breaking out on August 1.
As of Thursday, August 6, the three fires had burned more than 10,400 combined acres, with 913 structures confirmed damaged and containment gradually increasing on all three. Some evacuation orders have since been downgraded as conditions improve.
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson requested federal assistance for six counties (Chelan, Ferry, Okanogan, Spokane, Stevens and Yakima), plus three tribal nations, and the request was granted in full days later, unlocking FEMA funding for evacuations, shelters and emergency response.
Most Northwest wildfire coverage this summer has centered on timber and rangeland fires burning through forest and brush. The Old Trails Fire did that too, but it also burned deep into a dense wildland-urban interface, consuming homes, garages, vehicles and everything stored inside them. That distinction matters for the smoke it produced.
Wildland smoke is mostly a mix of burned plant material: fine particulate matter, ash and volatile organic compounds from wood and vegetation. Smoke from burning structures pulls in a much wider mix of material, including synthetic building components, insulation, vehicle fluids, plastics and household chemicals, all combusting together.
The fine particulate load doesn't disappear once flames are out, either; it settles into ash and dust that gets re-disturbed by cleanup activity for days or weeks afterward. A standard-efficiency filter that handles routine dust isn't built for that load; a MERV 13 filter is rated to capture a much finer range of airborne particles, which is the level of filtration public health agencies typically point to for smoke events.
Returning to a home near the burn area calls for a few extra steps beyond a normal wildfire smoke routine, since settled ash and soot keep getting stirred back into the air long after the flames are out.
Prep your home for cleanup
Ash and soot from a structure fire behave differently than routine wildfire haze. A few steps to take before you turn the system back on:
Sources: The Spokesman-Review, The Spokesman-Review, KHQ, NPR, Washington Governor's Office.
