The iconic homecoming view from I90 into downtown Spokane hidden within a thick blanket of smoke on August 3, 2026. Photo by Myk Crawford.
Saturday, I had just put the last touches on the new framework for Re-Storying Disaster we’ve been developing at NewStories. My Watch Duty app started going berserk as Level 3 evacuation notices started streaming in for what is now the Spokane Complex Fire. For more than 50 years now, Spokane is the place that has called me home from my work in other places across North America and around the world.
Like a deer in headlights. What can I do? I can’t do anything! I’ve said at 77 I am no longer doing front line work. Is all this stuff about Re-Storying Disaster bullshit? Does it make a difference? Breathing. Listening. Connecting with neighbors near and friends from afar. A bit of doom scrolling both for information and to add to my own trauma. Clean the house. Tidy my office.
When Everything You Know Becomes Personal
Friends evacuated. Air almost purple with smoke. The bike paths I’ve ridden for literally thousands of miles, back and forth, back and forth, engulfed in flames. My town, my home ten miles away. I’ve been here before, not this place—but many others. I don’t need pictures to imagine the horror. I’ve seen it. I’ve been with survivors in the ashes of their homes. What I know is carried in my body and heartmind. I know how to be. I know what to do. Breathe. Connect. Lean in. Rely on connection and curiosity more than assuming answers.
Finding the Next Right Thing
Monday morning, 36 hours later. Clarity starts to hold me. Forget the self-doubt. Just figure out what you can do and do it. Don’t worry about how big or small or inadequate. You know this territory of trauma and loss and grief and possibility, Bob. The amygdala is not in charge. Neither flight or fight are good choices. Just stay present. Breathe. Stay connected. Do what’s next to do.
And so NewStories gets to work. Linking arms with others. Finding our next steps. Alongside many. Just back from a community convening with more than 400 leaders from government, faith communities, health care providers, nonprofits. It was amazing. Never seen anything like it in the many places I’ve been. We’re Spokane. We’ve got this. This community hosts more than 60,000 runners for Bloomsday every year and welcomes more than 200,000 people downtown to watch the nearly 20,000 players on nearly 5,000 teams for Hoopfest, the largest 3×3 street basketball tournament in the world. Sure we’ve got people with very different views and ideas and lifestyles, but Spokane knows how to be a community and how to show up. Did I mention that in 1974, this area with just over 300,000 people then, hosted the EXPO ‘74 World’s Fair? This is a community that weaves social fabric!
Saturday afternoon I wondered if anything I knew mattered. By Monday I remembered I know what to do in these times. Listen. Connect. Breathe. Find the next step—and take it. Together.
Where to Turn
The team at NewStories and Re-Storying Disaster has gathered trusted resources and practical guides to help individuals, families, and communities navigate the days ahead. As recovery unfolds, we’ll continue adding new resources, reflections, and opportunities to connect.
Visit the NewStories Spokane Disaster Hub.
