Man who died in Spokane fire set blaze after argument with roommates

The man who died in a Northwest Spokane house fire last week intentionally ignited the fire after an argument with his roommates and retreated to the bathroom where firefighters found him dead, according to the Spokane Fire Department.

Firefighters were called at about 6:20 p.m. March 5 to the blaze at 3721 W. Elmhurst Ave., according to a fire department news release last week. Reports to 911 included an explosion causing the garage ceiling to collapse.

Firefighters arrived in four minutes and found heavy fire coming from the garage and extending into the home. The fire also impinged on power lines, causing them to come down, at the back of the house.

The department’s Special Investigations Unit believes the man tampered with a natural gas line that supplied the clothes dryer in the garage before starting the fire, which may explain the fire’s rapid growth reported by witnesses, the department said Tuesday.

The opened garage door provided ample oxygen for the fire, while an open door between the garage and house allowed for the immediate spread of smoke and fire, fire investigators said. The bathroom door was closed, but smoke and poisonous gases came in through the window.

Reports of explosions from witnesses were attributed to aerosol cans and propane cylinders in the garage.

Investigators thanked the Spokane Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit and the Spokane County Medical Examiner Office for its work in the investigation.

The medical examiner’s office said Tuesday it’s trying to identify the man who died.

The fire department reminded residents to close doors in a fire.

In this case, a bedroom with a closed door and a bedroom with an open door had smoke damage, but occupants in the closed-door room would have likely survived, the department said. The open-door room had smoke conditions that would have caused fatalities.

Closed doors help contain fires until help arrives, the fire department said, and sleeping with closed doors can provide time for self-evacuation or survival until rescue.