Chris Coppen on evacuation traffic and new housingEvacuation traffic and new housing
“My concern is that the comp plan seems to look for increased density and housing on Assembly.”
Roads & Safety
Road capacity, evacuation delays, and the questions raised in Spokane’s public meetings.
Hear the discussion
These nine clips bring together residents, transportation staff, a City Councilmember, and Plan Commission discussion. They address evacuation experience, development near constrained routes, and the information used to evaluate growth.
Evacuation experience and warnings
Residents and a councilmember describe congestion, recent fires, and requests for evacuation planning.
Chris Coppen on evacuation traffic and new housing
Kitty Klitzke’s evacuation accountCould you get out with flames beside your car?
“It was not a successful evacuation to have people watching flames beside their cars, sitting there for three hours.”
Kitty Klitzke on warnings made before the firesThese warnings came before the fires
“I was describing conditions as they exist. I wasn’t making crazy speculations. It happened, and we’re lucky no one died.”
Christopher Savage on evacuation-plan requestsPlan for evacuations now, not next year
“[Neighborhood councils] all have requested evacuation plans, not just last year, not the year before that, several years now.”
Growth and evacuation access
These clips connect proposed housing growth with routes, easements, and possible development requirements.
Kitty Klitzke on development and evacuation accessThree massive developments—and what evacuation access?
“We’re not even necessarily requiring easements through those properties, let alone roads be built.”
Development and evacuation-route requirementsShould developers have to improve evacuation routes?
“If there’s a large plat coming in, it’s required that it contributes to the evacuation routes in some sort of measurable way.”
Linda Carroll on housing growth along evacuation routesHousing growth along evacuation routes
“The future land use map … introduces new or increased housing density near fire prone areas that are also near or along one or more critical evacuation routes.”
Transportation review and West Plains growth
WSDOT testimony and the Plan Commission’s follow-up focus on Highway 2, traffic analysis, and unanswered questions.
Greg Figg on Highway 2 and West Plains growthCan Highway 2 handle more growth?
“At this point, we’re picking the preferred alternative without full knowledge of what its impacts will have.”
Jesse Bank on West Plains traffic concernsDid the City address West Plains traffic concerns?
“I would just love to ask staff if there’s any comment in response to any of those questions.”
What the reporting adds
The Spokesman-Review interviewed evacuees, emergency managers, law-enforcement leaders, and transportation officials after the August 1 fires.
About 65,000 peopleThe report says roughly 12% of Spokane County’s population fled their homes that day.
Hours in trafficResidents described being stopped for hours, traveling unfamiliar roads, or never making it beyond their block.
Few usable routesFire and congestion narrowed already-limited ways off Five Mile Prairie, North Indian Trail, and the Route 291 corridor.
Coordination and mobilityThe reporting describes conflicting early directions, downstream bottlenecks, and added risks for care facilities and people who could not evacuate independently.
Official planning document
Spokane County’s wildfire protection plan
Spokane County’s June 2026 Hazard Mitigation and Community Wildfire Protection Plan maps wildfire risk, identifies limited road access as a safety concern in some areas, and connects wildfire mitigation with local planning.
The countywide plan is not a neighborhood evacuation-route map.