by Ashley Bosa, Boise State University, [This article first appeared in The Conversation, republished with permission]
When a wildfire is headed your way, evacuating may sound straightforward: Gather your belongings, get in the car and leave.
In reality, it is one of the most complex decisions a person can face.
Fast-moving fires, shifting winds, heavy smoke and limited escape routes can quickly turn an orderly evacuation into gridlock. In many wildfire-prone communities, especially those built into steep hillsides or surrounded by forests, neighborhoods often have only one or two roads leading to safety. When hundreds or even thousands of residents try to leave at the same time, traffic can slow to a crawl.
What fueled the three large wildfires raging near Spokane, Wash., in early August 2026.
Recent disasters – including the 2018 Camp Fire that devastated Paradise, California, the Los Angeles-area fires in 2025, and now the Spokane, Washington, fires that have burned at least 700 structures – demonstrated how rapidly changing fire conditions can overwhelm evacuation plans. In Paradise, for example, the wildfire blocked key evacuation routes, and a state report found residents were confused by the evacuation advisories.
The challenge isn’t only the roads. Extensive research shows it’s also human behavior.
Residents must decide when to leave, what to take, which route to follow and where to go, often while under intense stress. Research has consistently shown that factors such as risk perception, preparedness, confidence in evacuation plans and familiarity with local routes all influence whether people evacuate early, delay leaving or choose to stay behind.
That’s where evacuation drills, like the one Spokane carried out just three months before the destructive wildfires, can make a difference.
The value of practice
Rather than asking residents to imagine what they would do during an emergency, community drills allow them to practice it. Families experience how long it takes to prepare, navigate neighborhood roads and reach safety. Emergency managers can observe traffic patterns, identify bottlenecks and evaluate whether existing evacuation plans are realistic.
In late April 2026, Spokane conducted a large, highly publicized evacuation drill in areas southeast of some of the neighborhoods threatened by fire a few months later, and officials and residents learned from the response.
The city of Spokane, led by Director of Emergency Management Sarah Nuss in partnership with the Spokane Fire Department, held its second communitywide wildfire evacuation drill in the Eagle Ridge neighborhood in April 2026. More than 950 vehicles participated, nearly three times the number that took part in the city’s first drill the previous year, making it one of the largest neighborhood evacuation exercises of its kind in the region.
The value of drills extended far beyond counting vehicles. The city learned about evacuation bottlenecks, the types of warnings and directions that were most effective and other challenges. The exercise also encouraged residents to sign up for emergency alerts, familiarize themselves with evacuation routes and think through critical decisions before an actual wildfire threatened their homes.
I’m a geoscientist who also studies disaster response at Boise State University, and I was in Spokane to assist with the evacuation drill in April. Afterward, I asked Nuss about the benefits of the drill.
“The feedback has been encouraging, particularly around preparedness and ensuring people are signed up for alerts and notifications,” Nuss told me. “Beyond the evacuation exercise itself, the event increased awareness of wildfire evacuation procedures and helped residents better understand how to prepare and respond.”
Spokane puts its lessons to work
The value of practicing before disaster strikes is no longer theoretical in Spokane. On Aug. 1, 2026, three wildfires began racing through suburban neighborhoods in high winds and dry conditions. More than 60,000 people had to quickly evacuate their homes and neighborhoods.
The city’s new understanding of evacuation response times and how to deploy traffic assistance also mattered. The city amplified fire-weather warnings that had been issued the day before, and it quickly deployed officers and National Guard troops to alert neighborhoods, direct traffic and open emergency shelters for residents. The Veterans Affairs hospital was ready to implement its emergency plan when the “go now” order was issued to evacuate patients and medical staff to other hospitals or shelters.
The three fires, collectively known as the Spokane Complex Fire, burned hundreds of homes to their foundations as the flames moved quickly from house to house. Residents had little time to escape, yet early reports suggested everyone survived.
For those who participated in or heard about the drill, the decisions they had to make in August may have felt more familiar, helping transform preparation into action when every minute counts.
The 2026 Spokane wildfires, and the Gray and Oregon fires that burned more than 350 homes near the city in 2023, are part of a broader pattern of rising fire risk in neighborhoods at the edges of wildlands across the western United States. As more people move into the wildland-urban interface – areas where homes and communities border or intermingle with flammable vegetation – the need for effective evacuation planning has become increasingly urgent.
So, what does an ideal evacuation look like?
The most effective evacuations begin long before a wildfire – or hurricane or tsunami – starts.
First, create a household evacuation plan. That includes thinking about the disasters your area could experience, planning where to meet and what to do if your family is separated, and knowing where you’ll go, whether that’s a shelter, a hotel or a friend’s house.
To be ready during high-risk periods:
- Have a go bag ready with essential medications, important documents, pet supplies and clothing.
- Identify multiple evacuation routes and a safe destination.
- Sign up for local emergency alerts and monitor trusted sources, such as the city’s or county’s emergency management websites or social media pages, for updates.
- And, of course, participate in planned evacuation drills to test your household evacuation plans. If your community doesn’t hold evacuation drills, practice the procedures and routes yourself. You’ll quickly see that getting everything and everyone out the door can be more time-consuming than you think. You can also ask your local emergency management office to hold a drill in your neighborhood.
When a wildfire is nearby, pay attention to official sources. Pack your vehicle as soon as you know there might be a problem, and be ready to go. Once an evacuation order is issued, leave promptly. Follow official routes, and expect heavy traffic and limited visibility.
It’s easier to keep everyone safe if you’ve prepared, have a plan and have practiced it.
Ashley Bosa, Postdoctoral Researcher, The Resilience Institute at Boise State University, Boise State University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.