SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Firefighters have taken advantage of cooler weather to begin getting a handle on wildfires that have displaced tens of thousands of people around Washington state's second-largest city, but hotter, drier and breezier days lie ahead.
Officials reported Wednesday that firefighters had established containment lines around the perimeters of all three fires affecting Spokane and that they were focused on reinforcing those lines. Temperatures were expected to climb from the 80s the past two days into the upper 90s (36-37 degrees Celsius), with less humidity, late this week.
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Firefighters inspect an area at Wyakin Park after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash., Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) CORRECTION: Wyakin Park, not Weaken Park
A line of burned cars sit in a parking lot Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A burned section of trees is marked with pink tape Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in an area near the origin point of the Old Trails Fire, after a man was arrested, suspected of starting the wildfire in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A burned truck sits in a driveway near several destroyed homes in a residential neighborhood Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Michelle Angstrom reacts to her burned down home and property after a wildfire hit the northwest part of Spokane, Wash., Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
The fires — one of which authorities say was deliberately set by a man who was arrested and charged with arson — have destroyed about 850 buildings and forced the evacuation of around 67,000 people since they erupted last weekend. Damage assessment crews have yet to tally exactly how many houses have been lost or damaged. No deaths have been reported.
The other two fires were also started by people, though not necessarily deliberately, investigators have said. They remain under investigation. Those fires, the Autumn Lane and Fairview fires, started independently of the arson-caused Old Trails Fire, they said.
Spokane County Sheriff John Nowels said during a Wednesday news conference that the evacuation zones will remain in place due to incoming weather and fire danger.
“We are not going to be downgrading these zones in any large way for many, many more days to come," he said. “If we let people back in and we don’t have a high degree of certainty the fire lines will hold, we will put people in danger.”
Many evacuees remained in a shelter set up in a Spokane convention center, at hotels or rentals, or at the homes of friends or relatives, with no idea of how soon they might go back — if they have a house to return to.
“We figured it would be a day or two, not four or five. It’s not the best situation,” said Debra Curran, who has been staying at the convention center since Saturday with her husband, who has ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Their house survived, but her husband would need to be transported by ambulance, which officials won't do until the fire risk in their neighborhood drops.
Among those under evacuation orders are patients and staff from the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane. When the fire approached on Saturday, the staff moved 27 patients to local hospitals and temporary shelters, said Bret Bowers, a spokesperson for the center. The medical center was not burned in the fire but several staff lost their homes.
Adam Wilson, a communications officer at the Washington State Auditor's Office, fled Saturday with his wife and three children, ages 9, 14 and 16. They had moved into their Spokane home a little over a month earlier and were still unpacking, he said.
Since then, they've stayed at a hotel 90 minutes to the south and with his father in Idaho. This weekend, they'll move again, to a rental home in Spokane that their insurance is covering.
Their house is fine, Wilson said, despite flames that leveled an entire cul-de-sac just two blocks away, leaving only chimneys standing in some cases. The neighborhood remains under an evacuation order. Even if they could return, there's no power and no internet service, and no information about how soon either will be restored.
“What you really want to hear, nobody can tell you,” Wilson said. “It is oddly emotional and disorienting. We did not lose any property. From the outside it looks like a family trip — ‘Hey, kids, we’re going to go visit Papa for a week, pack your bags.' ... And yet you feel like something isn't right.”
The fires were among dozens across the Western U.S. that have stretched the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. In Washington, there are 16 uncontained wildfires burning more than 672 square miles (1,740 square km) and being fought by more than 7,000 fire personnel, said Thomas Kyle-Milward, a spokesperson for the Washington Department of Natural Resources.
“We’re looking down the barrel at one of the worst fire seasons in state history,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington said Wednesday that senators had received a briefing from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Wildland Fire Service Director Brian Fennessy, who assured them that keeping firefighting assets, including ground crews and aircraft, in the Northwest is a priority.
“We are still at the highest risk in the nation and appreciate being the highest resourced,” Cantwell said in a written statement.
The man charged with starting the Old Trails Fire, Aaron F. Farinacci, 37, of Spokane, was expected to be arraigned Thursday. According to court documents, he was arrested after a resident reported him being in the area where the fire began. He denied having started it when questioned by deputies.
Authorities said they previously contacted him during two fire investigations last year, including one in a state park that prompted evacuation notices, though he wasn’t charged in either.
This story has been corrected to show that the last name of the VA medical center spokesperson is Bowers, not Bower.
Johnson and Bellisle reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Ed White contributed from Detroit.
Firefighters inspect an area at Wyakin Park after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash., Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) CORRECTION: Wyakin Park, not Weaken Park
A line of burned cars sit in a parking lot Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A burned section of trees is marked with pink tape Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in an area near the origin point of the Old Trails Fire, after a man was arrested, suspected of starting the wildfire in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
A burned truck sits in a driveway near several destroyed homes in a residential neighborhood Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, after a wildfire hit the northern part of Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Michelle Angstrom reacts to her burned down home and property after a wildfire hit the northwest part of Spokane, Wash., Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Ahead of November’s midterm elections, President Donald Trump is making a rare appearance in Nevada on Wednesday to sell voters on his handling of the economy against a backdrop of high interest rates, a national housing shortage and gasoline made more expensive by the Iran war.
He is seeking to shore up support for Republicans ahead of the November elections, which will determine which party controls Congress.
Abdul El-Sayed has won Michigan’s Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, defeating U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens in a massive victory for the party’s progressive wing in a battleground state. The real test will now come in a November matchup against Republican Mike Rogers for the seat, which is pivotal to Democrats’ chances of flipping the Senate.
The AP declared El-Sayed the winner after confirming Wednesday morning that there were simply not enough votes left to count that would allow Stevens to catch up. El-Sayed’s victory was so narrow that his victory wasn’t assured until almost all statewide ballots were counted. At the time AP declared him the winner, El-Sayed led Stevens by 14,893 votes — a margin of just under 1 percentage point — out of more than 1.5 million ballots counted. See full results.
Here is the latest:
Trump in his speech brought up the development of one of the world’s largest lithium mines in northern America, the Thacker Pass project.
The U.S. government last year announced it was taking a minority stake in Vancouver-based Lithium Americas, which is jointly developing the mine with General Motors. The U.S. also took a 5% stake in the mine itself.
Trump told the crowd in Las Vegas, more than 500 miles away on the other end of the state, that “Many people in this audience are going to be working there, and you are working there.”
He didn’t mention that the U.S. government was taking a stake in the project, but shortly after that in his speech, he began warning about the dangers of communism.
The president is trying to convince Americans that his policies have led the rest of the world to buy American goods, but his claims lack context.
“Just yesterday, it was announced that American exports are totally on fire in a positive way,” Trump told an audience in Las Vegas. “This is a positive fire, not a negative. ... It’s on fire in a very positive way. And they’ve skyrocketed exports to the highest level in American history.”
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Tuesday that American exports in June fell 0.9% to $314.7 billion. On a three-month moving average, exports are also down.
However, exports have increased 11.7% so far this year, largely because of increased exports of gold, oil and other energy products. Energy prices have increased this year because of the Iran war.
Officer Austin Abdelnabi, 30, a U.S. Marine veteran, was killed in the line of duty on Tuesday while responding to a report of a person with a gun acting erratically and waving a firearm in the air at a business, according to police.
“Austin died a hero, and he will never be forgotten, never going to be forgotten,” Trump said. “So to every law enforcement officer here today, we thank you for your service. And we say, God bless the men and women of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. And frankly, all of law enforcement.”
Trump’s comments came after a man in the crowd loudly booed Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo when he referenced Abdelnabi before the president took the stage.
“No. We’re not booing him. He’s the officer that passed away here recently,” Lombardo replied.
Trump was expounding on the tariffs he’s imposed that’s touched off a contentious trade war with Canada and told the crowd that, “Canada’s nasty. They are. They’re nasty.”
“I love the people, but they’re nasty,” Trump added.
Las Vegas’ tourism-dependent economy has been hit by a slump in visits from tourists and the city’s mayor has said visits from Canada — Nevada’s largest international market — has dried up in the wake of Trump’s trade policies and insults to its northern neighbor.
Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo faces Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford in what is considered one of the most competitive governor’s races in the country.
“You have a choice to get up off the couch,” he told a crowd of hundreds waiting to hear Trump speak. “You have a choice to walk to the ballot and cast your vote.”
Nevada residents also have an opportunity to vote for a state ballot initiative on voter ID in November, he said. It passed by a significant margin in 2024 but needs a second vote to take effect.
Lombardo highlighted his partnership with Trump, the first Republican presidential candidate to win the Silver State in 20 years. He said a federal decision had threatened Nevada’s solar industry, so he spoke to Trump about it and Trump fixed it.
“He’s always taken my phone call,” the governor said.
Hundreds of people waited in a long line wrapped around slot machines at the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa to get in to see the president.
Tom Port, a professional driver, said he is saving money with Trump’s move to cut tax from tips.
“That’s about the best thing he could have possibly done for me, considering a large portion of my income comes directly from tips,” said Port, 36.
Terilyn Taylor, 60, a teacher in Las Vegas, said she likes Trump, but also thinks home prices, interest rates and gas prices are too high.
“I don’t think it’s all Trump’s fault,” she said. But she would like to see the Iran war end.
“I thought the gas prices would be temporary, so I’m really ready for the Iran thing to be resolved,” she said.
U.S. District judge Ana Reyes on Wednesday was forced to lift her stay that had blocked the Trump administration from terminate Temporary Protected Status for about 350,000 Haitians who had been living and working legally in the United States since 2010.
She issued the order after a Supreme Court ruling on June 25 that sided with the administration’s decision to end the program.
As part of its crackdown on immigration, the Trump administration terminated TPS for about 1 million people from more than a dozen countries, including Haitians.
“As a result of today’s order implementing the Supreme Court’s decision, Haitian TPS holders — all of them noncriminals — can no longer legally work, and many are subject to removal to Haiti,” Geoff Pipoly, the lead counsel for the Haitians, said.
The United States’ decision followed Brazil’s denial of visas last month for two American diplomats who sought to visit ahead of upcoming elections as well as what the U.S. said was Brazil’s stalling on approving Trump’s nominee to be ambassador in Brasilia.
While Brazil’s ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti is not being expelled from the United States, if she leaves she would have to reapply for a visa, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in an interview Wednesday.
“I think it’s an irresponsible, ill-considered course of action for a country with 203 years of diplomacy and diplomatic relations,” Lula said.
The FAA is investigating because it appears to be a violation of safety procedures put in place after last year’s midair collision between an airliner and an Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport.
A commercial jet took off Tuesday from the busy Washington, D.C., airport at the same time that Marine One left the White House for Andrews Air Force Base with the president aboard. The jet was climbing above Marine One as the helicopter approached, so the two aircraft were not on a collision course.
After a January 2025 collision that killed 67 people, the FAA decided all takeoffs and landings at Reagan would be halted anytime a helicopter passes by the airport.
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“Abdul’s victory was, in my opinion, the most extraordinary victory that I can think of in modern American politics,” said Vermont independent Sen. Sanders during a call with reporters.
Sanders also congratulated two progressive candidates who won U.S. House primaries in the state and commended Rep. Haley Stevens for conceding a “tough” race.
Sanders said El-Sayed “took on” the Democratic establishment and outside spending from groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. He said the result was a sign of further change.
“The new Democratic Party is going to be broad-based. It’s going to be open and encouraging the participation of working-class people, of young people, of lower-income people. Democracy is messy, and I’m not going to sit here and tell you that everything is going to go 100% smoothly and there’s not going to be differences of opinion. That’s called democracy. I happen to believe in that. But that is the direction in which we are heading, and I think that is unstoppable.”
Asked about progressive Abdul El-Sayed’s ability to turn out core Democratic constituencies including Black and Jewish voters, Sanders said that El-Sayed’s economic message had broad appeal.
“I think his economic message will resonate across Democratic constituencies, and I think there’ll be working-class Republicans who will support that,” Sanders told reporters.
He argued that El-Sayed “has the capability of expanding the voter turnout universe, and much many of those new voters will be voting for him.”
Sanders dismissed concerns that El-Sayed’s criticism of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza will alienate Jewish voters.
“To be critical of the right-wing extremist government of Netanyahu and his horrific policies in Gaza does not make you antisemitic,” said Sanders, who is Jewish.
The Democratic U.S. Senate contest in Michigan has surpassed turnout for previous Senate and gubernatorial primaries and almost every presidential primary going back to at least 1978, according to Michigan Secretary of State records.
As of noon ET Wednesday, a total of 1,528,280 votes had been counted. The total could end up being higher as ballots continue to be processed.
But it already surpasses the roughly 1,181,000 votes counted in the 2020 U.S. Senate Democratic primary, and the approximately 1,131,000 votes counted in the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary.
The 2026 turnout total so far trails the nearly 1,588,000 votes counted in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. About 1,117,000 votes were counted in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
The House Ethics Committee recommended the Republican be censured for unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young female aides in his office. Edwards denied intending any of his conduct to be a sexual or romantic advance, but the committee said his behavior would “lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such.”
State law requires Edwards to submit his Wednesday withdrawal in writing to the state Board of Elections before ballots are mailed to overseas voters and the military. Since the primaries were months ago, the Republican executive committee in his district will name a replacement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is already juggling other disruptions as he tries to retain the GOP House majority, including in Ohio where Rep. Max Miller is under pressure to resign over his own ethics investigation.
The seat Edwards will be vacating includes progressive Asheville, and farmer Jamie Ager, the Democratic nominee, is hoping to flip it.
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The U.S. removed sanctions on three Iran-linked companies, including Fly Baghdad Airlines, which was sanctioned in January 2024 for allegedly providing assistance to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Also removed from the sanctions is Fly Baghdad’s CEO and two aircraft.
In addition to lifting sanctions on Fly Baghdad, the U.S. on Wednesday lifted sanctions on Iraq Express and another Fly Baghdad-linked company. A Treasury official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the sanctions said the decision to remove Fly Baghdad from the designations list was not indicative of any shift in U.S. policy toward Iran’s government.
— By Fatima Hussein
El-Sayed said he wants to unify people rather than divide them, and that people should focus on ending wars and corporate influence in politics. He has previously faced criticism for calling Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a “genocide.”
El-Sayed said “we can be talking about everybody’s pain.”
“My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as I’ve got a commitment to my own kids,” he added. “That’s the highest commitment I can offer.”
Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, whose retirement led to the primary that Abdul El-Sayed won, said Wednesday that the new nominee needs to start reaching out to “folks” to unify the party.
“I’m sure he will, and that it has to start immediately, which, he assured me will happen,” Peters said.
Peters had little to say about El-Sayed’s views on Israel and whether his win marks a shift for the Democratic Party. El-Sayed has criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza as well as pro-Israel campaign spending to defeat him in the primary.
“He campaigned on that issue, and the results speak for themselves,” Peters said.
The Republican Senate nominee posted a lengthy statement on social media Wednesday, saying his general election opponent “is leading a movement grounded in ideological fanaticism.”
Rogers also swiped at El-Sayed for stumping with popular but controversial streamer Hasan Piker, who has said “America deserved 9/11.”
Rogers said he never imagined he’d face an opponent with that view, ascribing the comment to the candidate, not the online personality.
His own campaign, Rogers said, is based on the notion that “Michigan has a future built on common sense.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which spent roughly $30 million in a failed effort to defeat El-Sayed in the Democratic primary, says it’s committed to opposing him in the general election.
“Our members remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr. El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November,” the group’s statement said.
El-Sayed responded on Wednesday: “You want more pain?”
The son of Egyptian immigrants made AIPAC and the tens of millions of dollars it spent to support Rep. Haley Stevens a centerpiece of his primary campaign. He has called Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a “genocide,” described the Israeli government as “evil,” and argued that AIPAC’s influence distorts Democratic politics.
On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the Senate Republican leader called the GOP nominee “a great candidate, very experienced” who is “running a terrific campaign.”
Thune spoke as El-Sayed addressed supporters at a victory news conference in Michigan and issued a five-debate challenge to Rogers.
Thune called the Democratic nominee “the extreme radical choice,” and said Democrats are “going to have to accept those positions that he has been advocating for in a general election setting, which I think puts us in a pretty good spot.”
That’s the theme of a new commercial out Wednesday from the Senate Leadership Fund, the principal super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
The ad features video clips of El-Sayed “in his own words,” calling himself “dangerous” and vowing that, “under my leadership, our state will not expend a dime enforcing federal immigration policy.”
The group says it’s spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to air the ad.
El-Sayed focused on affordability and healthcare in his speech, inviting people who voted for Trump in 2024 to “join this movement now.”
He positioned himself as the candidate who will stand up to Trump, in contrast to Rogers, who El-Sayed said went to Florida “so he could lick every single boot Donald Trump owns.”
“I know you’re gonna say no because you’re a coward,” El-Sayed, addressing his Republican opponent directly.
“Five debates, all right? If you’re willing to stand with me and have a conversation, you and I both know that you will wither in front of your own crimes.”
“In the words of Muhammad Ali, we shook up the world,” El-Sayed told supporters.
El-Sayed was heavily outspent in his primary campaign, and his candidacy was opposed by the Democratic establishment.
The vice president was addressing a roundtable focused on combating fraud, and making the point that the work of a task force he’s leading needs congressional approval to prevent its results from evaporating once the Trump administration is over.
“God forbid you’re going to have President El-Sayed in a few years,” Vance said, referencing Abdul El-Sayed, who clinched Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary just moments prior to his remarks.
“We don’t want him to undo all the incredible work that we’ve been doing,” Vance said.
Curtis Hertel, the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, urged unity within the Democratic Party.
“We have got to work together to take this country back,” Hertel said. “I can tell you what we need is a fighter ... Abdul El-Sayed has been a fighter for the people over and over again.”
McMorrow said that “for all of the differences that we may have had in the primary, that those differences pale in comparison to the contrast that we face in November.”
Republicans are counting on rifts inside the Democratic Party, but “this is the start of a celebration of all of us coming together,” McMorrow said.
Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., a candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaks during a primary election night event Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaks during a primary election night event Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Marine One, with President Donald Trump onboard, lifts off near Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
President Donald Trump, left, is escorted by Air Force Col. Christopher M. Robinson, commander of the 89th Airlift Wing, right, as he walk from Marine One to Air Force One, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
