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Spokane wildfire damage puts Pacific Northwest into tighter underwriting focus
The Spokane Complex has destroyed more than 700 structures, displaced about 65,000 people, and reached nearly 10,000 acres with zero containment as of Aug. 4, 2026.
Wildfire exposure is shifting beyond traditionally modeled markets as Spokane, Washington records its worst fire on record, raising pressure on property underwriters in the Pacific Northwest, according to Insurance Business.
The Spokane Complex has destroyed more than 700 structures and marks the third case since 2020 where a wildland fire has turned into an urban firestorm, following similar events in Colorado in 2021 and California in 2025. Unlike conventional wildland fires, urban firestorms use dense residential development rather than forest as the primary fuel source, which can expand underwriting scrutiny into mid-sized metros that had not previously been treated as top-tier wildfire zones.
Spokane Complex fires burned nearly 10,000 acres with zero containment as of Aug. 4, 2026, and roughly 65,000 people have been evacuated, incident commander Tom Clemo said. An arson arrest has also been made in connection with the Old Trails Fire, which alone destroyed roughly 640 structures.
The broader context is that carriers have already pulled back or raised rates after recent major wildfire events, including the January 2025 Southern California fires that generated $40 billion in insured losses. Insurance Business also notes Swiss Re data cited by Amwins showing wildfire’s share of total US insured catastrophe losses rising from about 1% before 2015 to about 7% today, while a Triple-I brief says more than 35,000 fires burned over three million acres in the first half of 2026, well above 10-year averages. Brokers placing property risk in Washington and Idaho should expect carriers to apply similar scrutiny to urban-adjacent wildland areas previously concentrated in California and Colorado.