Wildfires on the outskirts of the second-largest city in Spokane, Washington, entered a third day on Tuesday, destroying no fewer than 700 buildings.

The blazes also forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes in and around the Washington state city.

According to reports, the wildfires burnt more than 8,000 acres (3,200 hectares) since they started on Saturday around the city’s northern suburbs.

Benjamin Cossel, a spokesman for the California Interagency Incident Management Team 7, said about 64,000 people were under immediate evacuation orders as of Monday, up from 4,000 a day earlier.

“At least 700 structures have gone up in flames, most of them in residential areas, and aerial infrared surveys showed that possibly another 400 buildings, including homes, had been damaged or destroyed,” Mr Cossel said.

He noted that the cause of the incident was still under investigation, adding that there had been no injuries or fatalities, stating, “No injuries or fatalities have been reported so far. There’s a high probability that will change in the coming days.”

He added that about 1,100 firefighters were deployed to attend to the incident.

The governor of Washington, Bob Ferguson, on Monday, stated, “There are just so many Washingtonians who have literally lost everything in a very, very short period of time. In a matter of hours, their lives changed in deeply dramatic and fundamental ways.”