There are well over a hundred wildfires burning across Alaska, Washington and North Idaho this summer. They encompass, public, private and Tribal lands and impact thousands upon thousands of people throughout the region.

The Spokane Area Fires (collectively encompassing the Old Trails Fire, the Autumn Lane Fire and the Fairview Fire) have burned over 7,000 acres, destroyed at least 846 structures and displaced as many as 67,000 people as of August 5th. They have been the center-piece of the news and the national focus of fire-fighting efforts for the nation.

Both the Colville Indian Reservation and the Spokane Indian Reservation in Washington currently have wildfires burning within their bounds. While we have not always been sensitive to the impact wildfire has had on our Indigenous neighbors, our desire is to grow both in awareness of that impact and in commitment to their needs.

Towns like Nespelem and Tonasket are at serious risk. Nespelem, in particular, has been surrounded by the Kaiser Canyon Fire in the past few weeks and has lost multiple structures.

For those interested in providing material aid, particularly in the Spokane area, there are several avenues:

There are undoubtedly many other worthy avenues for support. If you are aware of avenues that should be added to this list, please write to office@pncucc.org.