Bishop Thomas Daly of Spokane, Washington, is urging prayers and support for those affected by major wildfires near the diocese and throughout Washington state.
Data from the Washington state government as of Aug. 4 showed more than a dozen “large fires” throughout the state with more than 13,500 acres burned since July 31. The state has seen more than half a million acres burn to date in 2026.
Several large fires were burning mostly north and west of Spokane, which is located in the eastern part of the state just several miles from the Idaho border. The blazes have consumed hundreds of structures and forced thousands of local residents to evacuate.
In an Aug. 3 letter to the diocese, Daly — who has served as the bishop there since 2015 — urged locals to “join me in praying for our neighbors who have been forced to evacuate, those who have lost homes or property, and all whose lives have been disrupted by these fires.”
The bishop also urged prayers for emergency responders including firefighters, doctors, and volunteers, whose “courage and selfless service” he described as “a profound witness to the goodness that shines even in moments of great uncertainty.”
Full scale of crisis ‘yet to unfold,’ bishop says
Speaking to EWTN News on Aug. 4, Daly said he and Diocese of Spokane Vicar General Father Darrin Connall toured parts of the devastated region with a police escort on Aug. 3.
“We’re used to fires, but mostly wildfires — it’s usually the countryside and the forest,” the bishop said. But in the latest conflagration, “blocks and blocks” of residential homes have been completely leveled.
“The reality is that home after home after home — they’re completely gone,” he said.
Local Church leaders, he said, are now confronted with the major task of not just attending to the immediate emergency needs of displaced residents but helping them figure out what their lives will look like weeks or months from now.
“Where are the people going to live? What about schools starting in a few weeks?” he said. “What’s it like to have Thanksgiving with no place to go? Clearly it’s going to be a couple years before homes are rebuilt.”
“There’s a lot still that will be a source of stress and difficulty for people. We’re beginning to see how to respond to the immediate needs and how we’re going to respond to the struggle that is yet to unfold.”
The bishop said no lives have yet been reported lost and that the two Catholic parishes in the affected region have been spared.
‘We’re not equipped to fight these fires’
Shane Stocking, the fire chief of South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue near Spokane, said in an interview with EWTN News on Aug. 4 that the region has suffered “apocalyptic devastation.”
The fires burning in the area, he said, are “wind-driven” and unpredictable.
“We’re talking about the type of fire that will spare one home and take two, spare another home and take three,” he said. “It’s picking and choosing. It’s not casually running up to houses. It’s ember- and wind-driven. It’s spreading half a mile or more ahead of itself and picking homes to ignite.”
Stocking said that as of Aug. 4 firefighters estimate that they have stopped the “forward progression” of the several large fires in the area. “It doesn’t mean they’re out or contained,” he said. “It means we’re going to hold them where they’re at.”
He described the chaos of the fire’s advance as “unprecedented.”
“It’s run-and-gun for our homes and run-and-gun for our lives,” he said. “There are no resources that exist that are going to stop these fires. It’s super abnormal.”
The chief said firefighters in the field are forced to make grim calculations when attempting to stay ahead of the blaze.
“As a leadership officer, you’re having to choose which homes you’re going to let burn down and which ones you’re going to save,” he said. “It’s very, very tough for me, and very, very tough for our firefighters. Some homes are going off half a mile away.”
“We’re very good at fighting house fires in the Spokane region,” he said. “But we’re not equipped to fight three wind-driven fires burning ahead of us all at the same time. I have no words.”
In his letter to the diocese, Daly urged residents to follow guidance from local leaders and to “heed evacuation orders” if they are given. He further called on Catholics in the diocese to be “people of hope.”
“Even amid tragedy and uncertainty, Christ remains with us. May he bring comfort to those who are suffering, strength to those serving on the front lines, and peace to every anxious,” he said.
Also in Spokane, Catholic Charities Eastern Washington appealed for donations to respond to the crisis. The charity group, which operates near downtown Spokane, said “many of [its] clients and residents have been affected,” including some Catholic Charities staff.
The group said it had set up an emergency fund to help provide essential supplies, housing, and long-term assistance to those affected by the fire.
“This is a moment where we are asking for our entire community to lean in with us during this very difficult time,” the group said.
On Aug. 3 the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office announced that it had arrested a 37-year-old local man on arson charges in connection with one of the fires in the area.
The individual is suspected of starting the “Old Trails Fire” located west of Spokane. That fire started on Aug. 1 and has consumed around 3,600 acres so far. It was still listed as “active” on Aug. 4.
Stocking, meanwhile, urged homeowners around the country to be aware of the “new normal” of major, fast-spreading fires.
He pointed to the 2025 Palisades fire in California and the 2023 fire that laid waste to Lāhainā in Hawaii as examples.
“We need to prepare our homes,” Stocking said. “Make your homes defensible, clean up, take out brush, and you have to be ready to leave. No amount of firefighters can stop a fire like this.”
