Fire ravages Medical Lake and surrounding area

Wildfires, driven by winds, destroyed up to 185 structures Friday afternoon in and around Medical Lake, Washington.

Section:Gallery

Sat., Aug. 19, 2023

It took only minutes for the eastbound Gray fire to roar over a ridge along South Medifor Road and consume everything in its path, including this house ablaze near Medical Lake on Aug. 18.

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Jazmine Talley holds her daughter Marley, 7, as they stand at the ruins of her parents’ Evergreen Drive home on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023, after it was destroyed, Friday, by the Gray Fire in Medical Lake, Wash.

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Isaiah Tonasket looks at the burning rubble of his family's home Friday night in Medical Lake. 'I cried a little bit, not gonna lie,' he said. Colin Tiernan photo

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Travis Starkovich, left, explains how his neighborhood was nearly destoyed by the Gray Fire as his friend’s son Carter Hixon, 8, carries water on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023, in Medical Lake, Wash.

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A vintage pickup carrying a 2020 presidential election sign sits amid a burned out field - the results of the Gray Fire - photographed on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023, in Medical Lake, Wash.

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A child’s bike helmet sits near the rubble of a home on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023, after it was destroyed by the Gray Fire, Friday, in Medical Lake, Wash.

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Toys are all that remain on Saturday after the Gray Fire destroyed a house late Friday night in Medical Lake.

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The remnants of a home destroyed Friday night by the Gray fire lay in the blaze’s wake on Saturday in Medical Lake.

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Kelly Maguire walks through his neighborhood and survey’s the damage of the Gray Fire on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023, in Medical Lake, Wash. Maguire said his home was saved, but his neighbors lost their’s.

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A pickup’s chared fender is photographed on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023, after it was destroyed Friday by the Gray Fire in Medical Lake, Wash.

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Cheney Firefighters watch as a home is consumed by the fast-moving wildfire at the intersection of Granite Lake Road and Murphy Road.

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As homes and structures burn, trees crown with fire along West Medical Lake Four Lakes Road.

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Crews work to extinguish a structure fire as a winds fan the flames of a wildfire on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Medical Lake, Wash.

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After the fire crossed I-90, locals on Granite Lake Road tried to stem the fast-moving flames with shovels.

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As the fire crested the ridge west of Medifor Road, law enforcement rushed to the scene from all over the county helping to get property owners to evacuate.

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Crews work to extinguish a structure fire as a winds fan the flames of a wildfire on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Medical Lake, Wash.

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Fire officials convene in at a destroyed structure after a wildfire passed through the Medical Lake area on Friday.

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The smoke of a wildfire is seen over the surface of Medical Lake from Coney Island Park on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

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The smoke of a wildfire is seen over the downtown streets of Medical Lake, Washington Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

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Smoke from a wildfire is seen over the downtown streets of Medical Lake on Friday.

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Spokane County Commissioner Al French stand near Department of Natural Resources personnel as they monitor the wildfires on the West Plains nearby Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

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Travis Baldwin shields his face from heat and smoke, using a garden hose to fight fire as a nearby home burns on Friday in Medical Lake, Wash. Baldwin said his father lives in the neighborhood, and when the fire hit, he grabbed a garden hose to do what he could to help.

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Travis Baldwin uses a garden hose to fight fire as a nearby home burns on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Medical Lake, Wash. Baldwin said his father lives in the neighborhood and when the fire hit he grabbed a garden hose to do what he could to help.

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Travis Baldwin uses a garden hose to fight fire as a nearby home burns on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Medical Lake, Wash. Baldwin said his father lives in the neighborhood, and when the fire hit, he grabbed a garden hose to do what he could to help.

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Travis Baldwin walks across a roof after trying to use a hose to wet the home as a nearby structure catches on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Medical Lake, Wash. Baldwin said his father lives in the neighborhood and when the fire hit he grabbed a garden hose to do what he could to help.

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Crews work to extinguish a structure fire as a winds fan the flames of a wildfire on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Medical Lake, Wash.

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Fire officials convene in at a destroyd structure after a wildfire passed through the Medical Lake area on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Medical Lake, Wash.

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The smoke of a wildfire is seen over Medical Lake High School in Medical Lake, Washington, on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

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School buses pull up to Eastern State Hospital, presumably to assist with evacuations at the state hospital Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, during the fire in Medical Lake, Washington.

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Doctors Svetlana Cox, Brian Sweatt and Daniel Sim watch the burn from a hill in the middle of an alfalfa field near Eastern State Hospital near Medical Lake, Washington Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

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Doctors Svetlana Cox and Daniel Sim watch the Gray Fire from Eastern State Hospital near Medical Lake, Washington on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

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Local residents begin arriving at Cheney High School, which has been designated as a shelter for people evacuated by the Medical Lake fire Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

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Airline passenger Kristen Baker shared this photo of the Gray Fire around Medical Lake that she photographed as her plane landed in Spokane Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

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Airline passenger Kristen Baker shared this photo of the Gray Fire around Medical Lake that she photographed as her plane landed in Spokane Friday, Aug. 18, 2023.

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