Washington state governor says he’s talked to Trump about wildfires

State Watch Washington state governor says he’s talked to Trump about wildfires Comments: by Max Rego - 08/03/26 9:48 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Max Rego - 08/03/26 9:48 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) said Sunday he spoke with President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about the wildfires sweeping his state.

During his conversation with Trump and Mullin, Ferguson “detailed how dire and devastating the situation is in Spokane and across our state,” the first-term governor wrote on social platform X.

“The President is aware of the situation, and expressed his concern for the people of Washington during this difficult time,” Ferguson added. “We will be working together on additional requests for federal assistance.”

There are 14 active wildfires near Spokane, ranging in size from two football fields to 7,708 acres, or roughly nine times the size of Central Park, according to Wildfire Trackers. The air quality in and around Spokane is in unhealthy ranges as of Monday, according to the state’s Department of Ecology.

The fires have destroyed more than 700 homes and forced nearly 65,000 families to evacuate, Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove told CNN on Monday.

Earlier Sunday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved Washington state’s request for fire management assistance grants (FMAG) to respond to three of the fires. FEMA has approved nine assistance grants to deal with wildfires in the state this year, according to the agency’s Region 10 office.

Those three fires — the Sinlahekin Fire burning in Okanogan County, the Fairview Fire burning in Steven County and the Autumn Lane Fire burning in Spokane County — have threatened local infrastructure.

That includes state-owned dams, a wastewater treatment plant, raw water reservoirs, a major power transmission line that supplies power to roughly half of Okanagon County and schools, FEMA noted.

“FMAGs make funding available to pay up to 75 percent of a state’s eligible firefighting costs for fires that threaten to become major disasters. Eligible items can include expenses for field camps, equipment use, materials, supplies and mobilization and demobilization activities attributed to fighting the fire,” added the FEMA release, which clarified the grants do not provide assistance to home or business owners.

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