Scale of devastation shocks US city's fire-seasoned residents - BBC News

One Spokane resident tells the BBC she realised the immense danger when she heard the fire had jumped over the river.

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‘Wiped out’ - BBC reports from Spokane neighbourhood devastated by fires

Last year, Chris Matthews was forced to flee with his family of five after a brushfire threatened their home in Spokane, Washington.

That evacuation lasted only a few hours. So when an ominous column of dark smoke raced towards him last Saturday, and he and his family were evacuated again, he expected he'd be back home soon.

Instead, he returned to find nothing but smouldering ruins.