Grass fire threatens several homes in Medical Lake

A grass fire near the heart of Medical Lake threatened several homes and prompted evacuations Tuesday afternoon.

Cody Rohrbach, chief of Spokane County Fire District 3, said the fire scorched more than 2 acres of canary grass just west of Stanley Street before crews from across the West Plains stopped forward progress just before 3 p.m.

"We have a wet line around the entire fire," Rohrbach said. "But we still have some heavier fuels actively burning inside the fire perimeter."

The fire broke out in a residential area, near apartment buildings, homes and businesses, Rohrbach said. A Level 3 evacuation order remained in effect as of Tuesday afternoon for the blocks between East Kathy Lee Avenue to the north, Golden Court to the south, and North Lindsay Street and Stanley to the east and west.

Enclosed by residential and commercial buildings, like Monark Self Storage, many residents viewed the fire from the safety of nearby roads and lofted apartment terraces. They watched patiently as about 20 fire fighters took to watering charred, smoldering grass and removing any potential fuel sources, like the heavy, dry logs dozens of feet from the dwindling flames.

Rohrbach said the fire district will keep resources in hand and monitor the fire throughout the evening to ensure embers don't carry. By 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, only faint wisps of smoke could be spotted from state Route 902.

"I'm cautiously optimistic, but we've still got a probably steady 20 -mile -an -hour wind on the fire, so there's still a potential for spot fires," Rohrbach said. "And we've got a lot of critical values downwind."

High winds hit the Inland Northwest for much of Tuesday, fueling both the Medical Lake blaze and a fast-moving fire in the area of Spokane's Beacon Hill that was at 300 acres and zero containment as of 3 p.m.

Mayor Terri Cooper said the wildfires broke out just as her city leadership team was meeting with regional officials about wildfire preparedness and the lesson learned from the Gray vfire that destroyed several hundred Medical Lake homes in 2023.

Wildfire experts are predicting a highly active wildfire season across Eastern Washington, as previously reported by The Spokesman-Review.

"So here we go," Cooper said.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 7:14 PM.