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There is an absence of the usual hustle and bustle in much of northwest Spokane: children chittering on trampolines in shaded backyards, cars firing up for the morning commute and the barking of dogs.
But on Aug. 12, the sound of laughter returned to the scorched remnants of one of those blocks.
"The last time I was here, it was a war zone," said Spokane Fire Capt. David Wood. "Coming here today, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel."
Wood said responding to the Old Trails fire was a once-in-a-career blaze. He's not alone in that sentiment; urban and wildland firefighters spent hours on end trying to save what they could in what became the most destructive wildfire in Washington history. The three fires in Spokane County on Aug. 1 burned 833 homes, including 600 destroyed by Old Trails.
Around 20 homes were left standing in what was once a bustling subdivision, solely due to the efforts of Wood and his fellow firefighters, who beat back flames blowing from neighboring properties.
On Aug. 12, Wood and the firefighters he fought alongside returned for what he described as a once-in-a-lifetime show of appreciation. The group was invited by The Spokesman-Review reporter Thomas Clouse, a longtime Woodside Avenue homeowner who organized a gathering of remaining residents to thank the first responders.
The group dined on Dominos pizzas and Liquid Death flavored waters, while standing on Clouse's green front lawn overlooking homes razed to their foundations.
Will Powers, wheelman behind Spokane Fire Engine 18 the day of the fire, said fire crews almost never get to see the impacts of, or celebrate, their successes.
"We'll go to a structure fire, we clean up our hose and we go home and we talk about it between ourselves, but we almost never ever get to talk to the people," Powers said. "That's why this is so special."
The informal standing dinner was the final note in a personal mission, Clouse said. He made a commitment to his neighbor, Bob Loomis, to find the firefighters who saved their homes. He documented the effort, and those of the crews behind the hoses, for The Spokesman-Review's Aug. 9 edition.
Wood said he believed the get-together was as cathartic for the homeowners as it was the firefighters. Old neighbors got to reconvene after a traumatic event, and Wood and company got to meet the people whose heirlooms, livelihood and memories they saved that day.
"It really impacts you," he added.
Resident Maria Sullivan, a social worker by trade, said in the wake of the fire she's grieving for her neighbors, as well as the neighborhood as she knew it. She spent the evening processing those emotions in conversations with others, checking in with familiar faces and praising the work of the fire crews.
"When you look out, you just miss your neighbors," Sullivan said. "I shut all my blinds down."
Margie Wordell and her husband Dan stopped by to see how everyone was faring, and to commend the firefighters for their efforts, despite losing their home of nearly two decades in the Old Trails fire.
Their home sat across Conestoga Avenue from the home of Dan's twin brother, Doug Wordell and his wife. Both homes were destroyed.
Wordell said her special needs daughter, their two golden retrievers and their two cats were home as the fire came barreling towards the neighborhood. Wordell and her husband raced home and evacuated the dogs and their daughter with assistance from first responders, but were unable to wrangle the people-wary cats.
"When other tragedies around the country have happened and you hear, 'Oh, I just escaped with what was on my body, my clothes on my back,' I always thought that was a little dramatic," Wordell said. "But that's exactly what happened to us."
Wordell said seeing familiar faces lifted her spirits. She and her husband have yet to decide if they will rebuild and once again call the neighborhood home. They have secured a furnished rental to stay in for the meantime.
"We'll just take our little trash bag of clothing," Wordell said. "I know, it's just crazy."
"But, you know, we're blessed," she added. "We're alive, right?"
Spokane firefighter Aaron Beaulaurier said he seldom has time to reflect on whose home he's saving when he's combating a blaze — even more so when it's a firestorm like the Old Trails fire. Powers added that the conditions that day prevented fire crews from seeing the end of their efforts and whether any home at all survived.
"It was nerve-wracking afterwards," Powers said. "We eventually moved on from this chunk to down the street and you don't have a way to really monitor it."
"We're so happy to see homes in this part of the neighborhood still standing," Beaulaurier said.
Reflecting on what was saved, residents pointed to belongings imbued with memories rather than monetary value: Loomis' custom climbing wall in his basement, longtime resident Randy Harris' GTO and Clouse's treehouse built into century-old Ponderosas for a now grown step-daughter.
"Just a couple of months from now, it'll make 56 years that I've been a rock and ice climber," Loomis said.
Loomis said he's grateful his neighbors survived. The gathering reassured him things are going to be OK, and reinforced his "optimism about the human experience."
"There's an old term that comes to mind; if you've ever seen in the spring when things are sprouting, they're pushing through the soil, green shoots," Loomis said. "This is green shoots."
"Ten days ago this neighborhood was in flames. Who knew what the future was going to hold," he added.
Wood said he'll remember the fire, and the gathering, for the rest of his career. He departed with a handmaid quilt from Loomis's wife, Pat Loomis, tucked under his arm.
"It'll be my station quilt," he said.
© 2026 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.). Visit www.spokesman.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
