Northeast Spokane RV demolition site ignites, morning smoke visible across Spokane

A dense, black cloud of smoke coming from a towing company in Spokane’s Shiloh Hills Neighborhood could be seen from miles away Monday morning.

At the scene – Evergreen State Towing’s headquarters at 6511 N. Perry St. – the Spokane Fire Department hosed a pile of burning debris from a ladder truck while other responders used excavators to get water through the rubble.

Evergreen State Towing is contracted with the city of Spokane to tow, impound and dispose of abandoned recreational vehicles. According to a 2025 city news release, the contract arose from “increasing public safety concerns from constituents.”

Spokane Fire Capt. Paul Peterson said the specific cause of the fire may never be discovered definitively. The black smoke people may have glimpsed in the morning could have been caused by any number of materials in a typical RV – tires, furniture or fiberglass, for example. The pile was approximately 50 to 60 feet in diameter and 20 feet tall, he said.

Peterson did not know whether the RVs were actively being demolished when the fire began. Evergreen State Towing representatives declined to comment.

There were no damages to the buildings surrounding the pile, Peterson said, and no injuries.

Firefighters were called to the scene around 9:50 a.m. The fire was under control at around 11:30 a.m., but Peterson said firefighters would likely stick around for a few hours to continue monitoring and saturating the area.

A shop hand at the neighboring media production studio Angel Audio, James Miller, said that he was at home when his work called and sent him a photo of the smoke. He was one of multiple neighbors who made their way over to see the fire.

“It looked like it was right behind us,” he said. “So I had to come check it out.”