Gray Fire

Eastern State Hospital is a psychiatric hospital established in 1891 in Medical Lake, a small community 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Spokane, Washington. The original building was a Kirkbride Plan and the current building has a similar floor plan with male and female wings extending out from the main building.A facility for the mentally ill in Washington State, it was commissioned by the Territorial Legislature in 1886 to ease overcrowding at Western State Hospital, which at the time was the only hospital for the mentally ill in the Washington Territory. Over the years, the hospital has been the subject of a number of scandals regarding the treatment of its patients and the quality and effectiveness of the care provided. As a result of these scandals, the vast increase in scientific and medical understanding of mental illnesses and the methodologies of effective treatment thereof, the hospital has undergone numerous transitions in the past century. The hospital continues to operate today as a treatment hospital, far from its origins as a state mandated custodial institution and more in line with the modern understanding of how best to treat mental illnesses and disorders. It is accredited with The Joint Commission (TJC).

Medical Lake is a small city in Spokane County, eastern Washington, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,874. The city is the site of a psychiatric hospital, Eastern State Hospital, and of Fairchild Air Force Base, two major employers.

Medical Lake High School is a four-year public secondary school in Medical Lake, Washington, the sole traditional high school in the Medical Lake School District (#326) in western Spokane County. West of the city of Spokane, the school district includes the base housing area of Fairchild Air Force Base to the north.

Espanola is an unincorporated community, in Spokane County, Washington, United States. The current name was adopted in the year 1900. As of 2021 the community of Espanola is little more than a handful of buildings and a grain elevator surrounded by farms.

Deep Creek is an unincorporated community in Spokane County, Washington. A creek of the same name flows through the community. Deep Creek is located along U.S. Route 2 in a rural area near the Lincoln County line.

Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) (IATA: SKA, ICAO: KSKA, FAA LID: SKA) is a United States Air Force base, located in the northwest United States in eastern Washington, approximately twelve miles (20 km) southwest of Spokane. The host unit at Fairchild is the 92nd Air Refueling Wing (92 ARW) assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force. The 92 ARW is responsible for providing air refueling, as well as passenger and cargo airlift and aero-medical evacuation missions supporting U.S. and coalition conventional operations as well as U.S. Strategic Command strategic deterrence missions. Fairchild AFB was established 82 years ago in 1942 as the Spokane Army Air Depot. and is named in honor of General Muir S. Fairchild (1894–1950); a World War I aviator from the state, he was the Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force at the time of his death. During the Cold War, Fairchild was a Strategic Air Command (SAC) base for 45 years (1947–1992), with bombers and tankers, as well as missiles for a brief period (1960–1965). As of 2018, the 92d Air Refueling Wing was commanded by Colonel Derek Salmi. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant was Chief Master Sergeant Lee Mills.

On Friday, 24 June 1994, a United States Air Force (USAF) Boeing B-52 Stratofortress crashed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, United States, after its pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Arthur "Bud" Holland, maneuvered the bomber beyond its operational limits and lost control. The aircraft stalled, fell to the ground and exploded, killing Holland and the other three crew aboard. The crash was captured on video and was shown repeatedly on news broadcasts throughout the world. The subsequent investigation concluded that the crash was attributable primarily to three factors: Holland's personality and behavior, USAF leaders' delayed or inadequate reactions to earlier incidents involving Holland, and the sequence of events during the aircraft's final flight. The crash is now used in military and civilian aviation environments as a case study in teaching crew resource management. It is also often used by the U.S. Armed Forces during aviation safety training as an example of the importance of compliance with safety regulations and correcting the behavior of anyone who violates safety procedures.

The Battle of Four Lakes was a battle during the Coeur d'Alene War of 1858 in the Washington Territory (now the states of Washington and Idaho) in the United States. The Coeur d'Alene War was part of the Yakima War, which began in 1855. The battle was fought near present-day Four Lakes, Washington, between elements of the United States Army and a coalition of Native American tribes consisting of Schitsu'umsh (Coeur d'Alene), Palus, Spokan, and Yakama warriors.

Four Lakes is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Spokane County, Washington, United States, just southwest of the city of Spokane, and north of Cheney. As of the 2010 census, its population was 512. Both Interstate 90 and SR 904 run through Four Lakes and the junction of the two is located near the center of town. Four Lakes was founded in 1879 by G.H. Morgan. The community was so named on account of there being four lakes near the original town site. It is speculated the fourth lake, is now a marsh south of Meadow Lake, which was drained by the ditch, blasted through basalt, which Minnie Creek flows through, under SR 904, south of the rodeo grounds.

Reese Court is a 6,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Cheney, Washington, on the campus of Eastern Washington University. It is home to the EWU Eagles basketball team and replaced Eastern Washington Fieldhouse in 1975. It was the host venue of the 2004 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament, and is located southwest of the football stadium, Roos Field.

Roos Field is an outdoor college football stadium in the northwest United States, on the campus of Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington, southwest of Spokane. It is the home venue of the Eastern Washington Eagles of the Big Sky Conference in Division I (FCS). Opened 57 years ago in 1967, the Eagles have accomplished a 112–51 (.687) record at home. The seating capacity was increased in 2004 to its current capacity of 8,700 permanent seats. Additional temporary seating is often utilized to accommodate large crowds, which brings the capacity to nearly 12,000.

The 1891 State Normal School at Cheney fire was a conflagration on the morning of August 27, 1891, that consumed the only building then housing the State Normal School at Cheney in Cheney, Washington. There were no deaths, but the destruction of the building sparked a multi-year battle with the governor and state legislature regarding whether the normal school would be shuttered, or whether the state would authorize funds for the construction of a replacement building.