Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials said Eastern Washington forests were “overstocked” as catastrophic wildfires force thousands from their homes and trigger a massive state and federal response
Among the countless images emerging from the devastating Spokane-area wildfires, one has become a powerful symbol of resilience.
State Rep. Jenny Graham lost her home when the fast-moving fires tore through her neighborhood, reducing virtually every house on the block to rubble. But amid the destruction, one thing remained standing: the American flag still flying from the flagpole in front of what had been her home.
NEW: Rep Jenny Graham sent me this picture. All that is left of her house after the fires in Washington state is the American flag pic.twitter.com/DUaCMmV7la
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) August 2, 2026
“It really puts that beautiful American flag still standing amid total devastation into perspective,” Graham told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI. “Imagine how hot the temperatures in that area reached. All it would have taken was one red ember to land on the flag.”
Graham and her mother are now staying in a hotel after the fire destroyed their home and everything inside. In a cruel twist, the people who had offered them a place to stay also lost their homes to the fast-moving flames.
“Ironically, the homes we were invited to stay also burnt to the ground,” Graham said.
Video sent to me by a listener in Spokane, WA
Video has been intentionally muted because of some private information heard in background pic.twitter.com/S3GDQolbDz
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) August 2, 2026
Her story has become one of the defining images of a wildfire disaster that has destroyed an estimated 700 structures, forced more than 65,000 people from their homes, and prompted what officials say is one of the largest emergency responses in recent Washington history. Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown described it as “the worst natural disaster our region has faced.”
As firefighters continue battling multiple large blazes around Spokane and elsewhere across the state, the disaster is also renewing questions about whether Washington spent enough of the past decade reducing the fuel loads that its own forestry experts repeatedly warned were building up in eastern Washington’s forests.
Rep Michael Baumgartner: "This is an unprecedented catastrophe for the Spokane area, but I think we're going to see unprecedented collaboration in responding to this fire."
"This is not Republicans and Democrats you're seeing before you. This is concerned elected officials.… pic.twitter.com/mSuB0dZmO4
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) August 3, 2026
Months before this year’s fire season intensified, Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials publicly warned that many eastern Washington forests had become dangerously overgrown after decades of fire suppression and changing management practices.
During a May briefing to the Washington Board of Natural Resources, DNR Forest Resources Division Manager Cameron Crump said active forest management is “widely accepted” as necessary to restore healthier forests.
“A century of fire exclusion policies and past management practices have altered eastside forest ecosystems,” Crump told the board.
She explained that many dry forests are now “overstocked” with fire-intolerant tree species, increasing drought stress, insect infestations, disease, and the likelihood of unusually severe wildfires.
The department manages more than 2.25 million acres of forestland statewide, roughly one-third of which is located in eastern Washington.
DNR officials also acknowledged that while the state has invested heavily in forest restoration, significantly more work remains.
Sam Steinshouer, DNR’s state lands forest health program manager, told the board that Washington has spent more than $100 million on forest health treatments through the Forest Health Revolving Account.
Public Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove responded that those investments were likely “a drop in the bucket compared to need.”
Steinshouer emphasized that active forest management—including thinning overcrowded forests, prescribed burning, and planting more fire-resistant tree species—is essential to making forests more resilient.
“Almost any kind of management is better than no management at all,” Steinshouer said.
DNR also presented examples showing how forests that had been thinned years earlier experienced less severe fire behavior during previous wildfires.
The devastating Spokane fires are also prompting renewed scrutiny of whether Washington did enough over the past decade to reduce wildfire fuel loads before disaster struck.
Former Gov. Jay Inslee frequently emphasized climate change as a primary driver behind increasingly destructive wildfire seasons while supporting investments in forest health and wildfire response. At the same time, DNR officials continued warning that eastern Washington forests remained dangerously overstocked and required substantially more mechanical thinning, prescribed burning, and other active management to reduce the risk of catastrophic fires.
Those warnings should have translated into a faster pace of fuel reduction during Inslee’s twelve years in office. They contend that while Washington expanded climate initiatives, it failed to accelerate forest restoration quickly enough to keep pace with worsening wildfire conditions.
DNR officials themselves have repeatedly emphasized that restoring forest health is measured in years rather than months and that the work completed so far represents only a fraction of what is ultimately needed.
One issue discussed by DNR officials is the reduced use of prescribed burning.
According to DNR’s presentation, prescribed burns were once used much more frequently before agency policies adopted in the 1990s significantly reduced their use. Officials now say controlled burns are once again becoming an important part of reducing fuel loads before catastrophic fires occur.
“I’ve noticed, just as an elected official, the social license is definitely there,” Upthegrove said during the board meeting. “I think people are understanding more and more that it’s better to have these controlled fires than a big, uncontrolled one.”
Wildfire funding became a major issue during the past two legislative sessions.
After lawmakers reduced funding for several wildfire prevention initiatives in 2025, the Legislature restored the money earlier this year before the 2026 wildfire season began. Upthegrove praised lawmakers for restoring $60 million for wildfire prevention, response, and community resilience programs, saying Washington was entering fire season prepared.
Even so, DNR officials have continued to stress that forest restoration is a long-term effort measured in years rather than months and that decades of fuel accumulation cannot be reversed in a single budget cycle. Upthegrove also said during the current fire response that the restored funding allowed the state to obtain the resources it needed and that he was not aware of the earlier budget reductions delaying the Spokane response.
Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide wildfire emergency Saturday. The declaration imposed a statewide burn ban through Sept. 30, authorized additional National Guard activations, and opened the door for assistance through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
Ferguson activated more than 100 Washington National Guard members to support local firefighting efforts in addition to helicopter crews already deployed. According to the Washington National Guard, aviation crews have dropped more than 923,000 gallons of water over 137 flight hours while supporting suppression efforts.
Ferguson also requested federal assistance after speaking with President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
“The president was very gracious, as was Secretary Mullin,” Ferguson said Sunday. “He expressed his support for what the people are going through out here.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency subsequently approved a Fire Management Assistance Grant, allowing the federal government to reimburse up to 75 percent of eligible firefighting costs. California Interagency Incident Management Team 7 has also assumed command of the Spokane-area fires as more than 900 firefighters from local, state, and federal agencies battle what officials have designated the nation’s highest wildfire suppression priority.
While investigators continue determining what ignited the Spokane fires, Washington’s own forestry experts had warned months earlier that eastern Washington’s forests were increasingly vulnerable after decades of fuel accumulation and that significantly more active management—including thinning, prescribed burning, and fuel reduction—would be necessary to reduce the risk of future catastrophic wildfires.
