SPOKANE, Wash. — Fire departments in Spokane County are seeing more calls than ever before for every type of fire.

Spokane Valley Fire responded to nearly 2,300 calls in July, making it the busiest month in the department's 75-year history. The Spokane Fire Department is also seeing a huge increase in calls, especially brush fires.

"This isn't just in the city alone, this is a county-wide issue. Spokane Valley, Fire District 9, Fire District 8, Fire District 10, they've all been experiencing quite a few suspicious fires," said Justin De Ruyter of the Spokane Fire Department.

The high call volumes make things more difficult for individual firefighters. Departments around the region are using mutual aid agreements more when there are multiple fires at once.

"When you're going from one i

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