SriLanka, Aug. 2 -- Wildfires across more than a quarter of a million acres in Washington state have prompted widespread evacuations and power outages in the Spokane area, state officials said on Saturday evening.

About 4,000 people were fighting more than a dozen fires throughout the state, Dave Upthegrove, the state's commissioner of public lands, said during a virtual press conference.

Governor Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency and burn ban on Saturday morning. No injuries or fatalities related to the fires were known at this point, officials said.

Spokane, home to about 230,000 residents in eastern Washington, is dealing with the Old Trails Fire, which Washington State Forester George Geissler said had burned about 3,000 ...