Spokane wildfires force mass evacuations as In-N-Out shooting details emerge

In the first days of August, wildfire swept toward Spokane, Washington with a speed that outpaced prediction and forced thousands of residents from their homes into smoke-thickened air. The evacuation unfolded as it so often does in the modern West — in waves, with uncertainty, and with the particular grief of not knowing what will remain. Simultaneously, a fatal shooting at a restaurant elsewhere in the state reminded officials and citizens alike that crisis rarely arrives alone, and that the systems built to protect communities are always being tested at their limits.