The Great Fire of Spokane, Washington destroys some 32 blocks of the city, prompting a mass rebuilding project.

The Great Spokane Fire—known locally as The Great Fire—was a major fire which affected downtown Spokane, Washington on August 4, 1889. It began just after 6:00 p.m. and destroyed the city's downtown commercial district. Due to technical problems with a pump station, there was no water pressure in the city when the fire started. In a desperate bid to starve the fire, firefighters began razing buildings with dynamite. Eventually winds died down and the fire exhausted of its own accord. As a result of the fire and its aftermath, virtually all of Spokane's downtown was destroyed, though only one person was killed.

Spokane is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, 92 miles (148 km) south of the Canadian border, 18.5 miles (30 km) west of the Washington–Idaho border, and 279 miles (449 km) east of Seattle via Interstate 90. It is the second-most populous city in Washington with a population of 228,989 at the 2020 census, while the Spokane metropolitan area has an estimated 605,000 residents.