Droves of people on Sunday witnessed the historic devastation left behind after a raging wildfire raced into the city of Spokane, reducing neighborhoods to piles of charred brick and twisted metal.

“Nothing has sunk in yet. I am still processing it,” said Sheri Clark, who stood in what used to be her driveway in the Indian Trail Neighborhood on Sunday.

She stared at her tomato plants, which on Saturday had been ripened red and perfect for picking. The tomatoes had instead melted into mush from the heat and dropped from the wilted vine.

They were the only drop of color next to what used to be her home, now a cluster of black and white rubble. Nearly every home around her met the same fate.

“This is what I imagine a war zone is like,” Clark said. “It feels unreal.”

The nearly 4,000-acre Old Trails fire sparked north of Airway Heights and jumped the Spokane River. That and two other fires in Spokane County forced 60,000 evacuations, threatening more than 14,000 structures within the city’s evacuation boundaries.

The wind-driven blaze displayed extreme fire behavior, something fire and weather officials predicted earlier in the week. Assistant Spokane Fire Chief Lance Dahl said at a news conference late Saturday that the devastation was nearly unstoppable.

“There is not a fire department in the United States that can handle a wind-driven event this size,” he said.

The flames spread easily in 35-45 mph winds, tearing through Riverside State Park and razing at least 640 structures as of Sunday, mostly within the city.

Many of the lost homes were identifiable only by the chimneys left standing.

Signs of children lingered on sidewalks where hopscotch was chalked.

Stone stairs that once led to a wraparound porch led to nothing. Smoldering foundations were still hot enough to melt shoes.

It is “the worst natural disaster the region has faced,” Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown said Sunday. Local officials are still assessing whether lives were lost.

“Although the fires are not out yet, the care and the recovery began yesterday and continues today, and will go on as long as it needs to go,” Brown said.

“We will get through this.”

Two other fires destroyed another 4,300 acres near Spokane. Combined, the triple firestorm became an “unprecedented catastrophe,” Rep. Michael Baumgartner said.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell pledged to work with Baumgartner to access additional federal resources for the region’s recovery.

“It is the top fire in our nation,” Cantwell said. Kristin Renz surveyed the damage to the home of her son and daughterin-law on Skyline Drive.

Many of the homes on that street and nearby West Tiffany Drive are gone. The destruction reminded her of last year’s Palisades fire that burned more than 23,000 acres and demolished thousands of structures in Southern California.

Her daughter-in-law Kimber Renz salvaged a muffin tin from the rubble.

“It’s unrecognizable,” Kristin Renz said. “We always knew this could happen.

So we will get through it, day by day.”

When the Old Trails fire jumped the Spokane River, it burned the Spokane Rifle Club and ignited the hillside above North Aubrey L. White Parkway.

Flames raced into the neighborhood accessed by Rifle Club Road. In a cluster of at least 50 homes, none was spared. The area had once been an enclave of well-kept homes, manicured lawns and green trees. The fire reduced it to a barren, colorless landscape.

Most of those properties were still smoldering Sunday afternoon.

Erin Conley, a resident who lost her home in the neighborhood, frantically gathered what was left of the property she had inherited from her mother.

She was able to salvage multiple pagoda statues and other heirlooms in her yard by hoisting them into a wheelbarrow to take to a safe place.

Her mother passed in 2005, “before marriage, before babies.”

The statues are “the only thing I have left of her,” Conley said. Conley was surprised that fish in her koi pond survived. She formulated a plan to rescue them and place them in another pond nearby, she told The Spokesman-Review on Sunday.

“They’re all alive,” Conley said. “I can’t believe they’re all alive.”

Behind Conley’s burned home, Sean Lembcke wandered his father-in-law’s property with his son. His father-in-law was recovering in the hospital after surgery, and was unable to make it back to the house.

Lembcke told them he’d check on the house, only to find it gone.

“The important part is that they’re safe,” Lembcke said. “They’re alive.”

Much like many of her neighbors in the area, Lembcke’s wife spent her middle school and high school years in the home. As he stood on the foundation of the house, overlooking what used to be the basement that is now flooded from a burst pipe, the only way he could describe it was “pure devastation.”

Before he left, he encouraged his son to take a brick from the home. “I already did, Dad,” his son said.

Though some were able to return Sunday, Level 3 “go now” evacuation zones remain hazardous, according to fire officials. Open flames and hot debris are everywhere.

Firefighters must have room to get back into the neighborhoods to continue working, said Spokane Fire Department spokesperson Justin de Ruyter. Local fire departments and police are urging people to stay away from those areas.

Mass evacuations remain in place, with the Spokane Convention Center serving as the main overnight shelter for over 400 people who fled their homes in chaotic scenes that unfolded in the neighborhoods of northwest Spokane.

People unable to bypass police roadblocks parked their cars near the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center and walked the 2 miles to their neighborhood to gather essential items. Many people were seen walking back, carrying dogs, cats and suitcases filled with clothes.

In the meantime, the state of Washington has requested short-term emergency aid from FEMA, Gov. Bob Ferguson said. He expects that to be approved “in the near future,” and plans for long-term assistance are already being made.

Ferguson was able to reach President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Sunday afternoon, he said. Ferguson made it “clear” about “how dire the situation is.”

“He understands that. He knew that going into the call. He expressed his support for what people are going through out here, and I deeply appreciate him taking time from his obviously busy schedule to hear about what’s happening from folks on the ground and to offer their support,” Ferguson said of the president.

Hundreds of firefighters deployed into northwest Spokane neighborhoods, including some 120 personnel from California Interagency Management Team 7, who arrived in Spokane on Saturday night. They immediately began shadowing local crews on the fire lines and assisting into Sunday. State Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove said more than 900 people from different agencies are fighting the fires in Spokane, out of 4,000 fighting fires across the state. Some firefighters have come as far as Australia and New Zealand.

Tom Stokesberry, the public communications officer overseeing the fire, asked private drone pilots to observe temporary flight restrictions over the burning areas.

He said his pilots have had 26 encounters with private drones flying over the fires. Not only is it a federal crime, Stokesberry said, but it intervenes with their work from the air.

Pilots have to land their aircraft for the safety of those on board, pausing air suppression until crews can verify the drone has left the restricted area. A collision with a drone could be and has been deadly for the pilot, Stokesberry said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Elena Perry and Amanda Sullender contributed to this report.

Alexandra Duggan can be reached at 509-459-5469 or by email at alexandrad@ spokesman.com.