Talk:Spokane area fires

Panorama Image

Panorama view of the skyline of the smoke rising from the fires on August 1, 2026

I managed to get a decent-ish shot of the smoke rising from the fires last night about an hour before sunset, taken from south/southeast of the fires. FYI: I did the required air traffic checks prior to flight, I was well south of the no-fly zone that was in place for the fire emergency. Photo was taken from about 396 feet AGL. Feel free to use in the article if it would be an improvement. —Locke Cole • t • c • b 16:14, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

Added --Another Believer _(Talk) 17:51, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

Rename this to "Spokane Complex"

This article seems to be discussing the Old Trails fire as well as some of the other fires so I believe it should be renamed to better fit it PatrickWX (talk) 05:35, 4 August 2026 (UTC)

I've made some redirects as per WP:COMMONNAME. I don't know if the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) handles the nomenclature or if that's done on the state level. Probably the latter, inasmuch as it's defined as "Two or more individual incidents located in the same general area which are assigned to a single incident commander or unified command." kencf0618 (talk) 03:38, 5 August 2026 (UTC)

While some news agencies are using "Complex", that term is normally reserved for fires that ahve burned together to form a single larger conflagration. This isnt the situation here, and Inciweb uses an umbrella "Spokane area fires" , note the lower case, with information and photograph captions calling out specific names or using the lower case blanket.--Kevmin § 19:03, 6 August 2026 (UTC)

Yes but ... Washington State Department of Social and Health Services uses "Spokane Complex". As does Spokane Fire Department and the Spokane newspaper of record, the Spokesman-Review. I'm not sure we should rule it out yet, nor should we adopt it yet. ☆ Bri (talk) 19:23, 6 August 2026 (UTC)

I would suggest following inciweb, as they are the overseeing organization. I note the instances that are typically using "complex" are misusing it in a vernacular sense ala "Theory vers Theory". Its not a complex at this time, but this article as written is about all three fires not just the Old Trails fire. Im going to boldly move to Spokane area fires.--Kevmin § 15:38, 7 August 2026 (UTC)

Spokane Complex Fire is a far more appropriate name than the vague "Spokane area fires". National media are already using the Complex Fire name for this specific event, while "Spokane area fires" could refer to any of the many wildfires in Spokane County in any year. SounderBruce 21:02, 7 August 2026 (UTC)

SounderBruce Except, as already noted, its not a Fire complex by definition (several fires which have converged into a large single conflagration), and CAL fire 7 does NOT call it a complex. New media should not be used for technical details as they are not competent and often misuse terminology. We follow the experts for accuracy, if ambiguity is too much of a concern, 2026 Spokane area fires is just a quick link away.--Kevmin § 21:22, 7 August 2026 (UTC)

Per WP:COMMONNAME, the common name used in news media is exactly what we should be using even if slightly inaccurate, with very rare exceptions. SounderBruce 21:29, 7 August 2026 (UTC)

COMMON does not advocate for that and MOS:PRECISION tempers it more. Or should we call all pterosaurs Dinosaurs simply because that what news sources do?--Kevmin § 22:20, 7 August 2026 (UTC)

Mostly agree with SounderBruce on the title, however, I'd suggest WP:NCWWW is applicable here and we should have the full title as 2026 Spokane Complex fires or Spokane Complex fires (2026). This would be consistent with the naming on events such as those chronicled at 2025 Atlantic hurricane season (and prior year). 2026 is when, Spokane Complex is where and fires is what happened. —Locke Cole • t • c • b 22:23, 7 August 2026 (UTC)

Note that previous complexes are usually singular and usually have "fire" capitalized, e.g. Tripod Complex Fire (2006), Okanogan Complex Fire (2014), Okanogan Complex Fire (2015). ☆ Bri (talk) 22:59, 7 August 2026 (UTC)

This doesn't match how some of the sources are labeling this event, see and . I don't have the time to do an exhaustive source examination, but just from skimming Google News results, it appears to be a pretty decent split (and that's explicitly searching for "Spokane Complex" fires). I'm not prepared to support a capital "Fires" until there's better evidence that this is the proper name used in a majority of reliable sources. —Locke Cole • t • c • b 23:14, 7 August 2026 (UTC)

United Nations website

• Ashley Bosa (August 6, 2026). "Just weeks before devastating wildfires hit, Spokane practiced a mass evacuation – the drill paid off". preventionweb.net. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Possibly worth including some material from this report. Or maybe republished by UN, I'm not sure right now. ☆ Bri (talk) 21:50, 7 August 2026 (UTC)

Nice find, It's a good addition to the background and evacuation sections, I'll get it added in.--Kevmin § 22:22, 7 August 2026 (UTC)