Auburn-based VRFA sends team to help fight Spokane wildfires

Published 3:02 pm Monday, August 3, 2026

Auburn-based Valley Regional Fire Authority (VRFA) sent a team of four firefighters on Aug. 1 to Spokane to help fight the wildfires that are destroying the city.

They took a standard fire engine and are currently assigned to structure protection, said VRFA spokesperson Kelly Hawks.

The VRFA firefighters join a much larger team of different units across the state that are coming together to support Spokane.

So far, the wildfires have destroyed more than 700 structures. More than 65,000 people have been forced into evacuation, according to npr.org.

Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown told NPR that the fire has engulfed 12 square miles and is still not under control.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, called the wildfires in Spokane the “top fire in our nation,” in a Facebook post on Aug. 2.

Puget Sound Fire spokesperson Pat Pawlak explained in an Aug. 3 email to The Kent Reporter the process of how fire departments throughout Washington are able to support Spokane.

“Once local and mutual aid resources have been exhausted, the department can request additional resources from their county and up through the state,” Pawlak said. “Once the request is approved by the state, requests for assistance is sent and departments fill these requests when possible. The group of apparatus and firefighters that are being deployed meet up at a rally point, and travel to the fire scene together.”

Gov. Ferguson said in a Aug. 3 X post that he has made a request for direct federal assistance and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has begun moving in resources to the state.