Apartment Fire Leaves 10 Homeless Cigarette Smoldering In Sofa Suspected In Morning Blaze

Ken Runeberg lives in a trailer with a wood stove. Worried the place might catch fire, he moved one of his most precious possessions - a 20-year photo album - to his estranged wife’s Spokane apartment.

“I knew it would be safe here,” Runeberg said.

But on Tuesday morning, fire burned through Janet Runeberg’s apartment-condominium complex at 2121 E. Upriver Drive.

As smoke and flames spread through the complex, at least 10 people from five units fled into the 4 a.m. cold. No major injuries were reported.

“It was extremely lucky and fortunate that we did not have a loss of life in this building. It was a significant, significant fire,” said Spokane Fire Marshal Gary Miller.

A cigarette smoldering in a couch in a ground-floor unit likely started the fire, said Capt. Ernie Nye, Spokane Fire Department investigator.

Flames spread to at least two other units, while heavy smoke filled two more - including Janet Runeberg’s third-floor home.

“She said she woke up and there was smoke everywhere and all she could think about was our son,” her husband said.

She tried to leave by the front door, but the stairwell was ablaze. Instead, she and her 6-year-old son Kris escaped by jumping to their neighbor’s balcony and then to the ground. Her mother, who lives with them, was rescued by firefighters.

“I’m just so glad there was no loss of life,” Ken Runeberg said, looking up at the blackened frame where a window used to be. By Tuesday afternoon, he still hadn’t been able to enter the apartment to see if his photo album survived.

Eight adults and two children were left homeless by the fire, said Joyce Cameron, Red Cross spokeswoman.

All found a temporary haven - either with friends or family, Cameron said, but three adults and one child needed clothing and shoes from the aid organization.

Cameron didn’t know how many of the people had insurance to cover their losses.

The ground floor of Unit 20, where the fire started, was obliterated, resembling the shaft of a coal mine. The side of the building was a charred scab and the grille of one car parked nearby was melted from the heat.

A tenant in the unit woke to find the living room filled with smoke. He opened a sliding door, then went upstairs to wake two more people in the apartment, Nye said.

“I don’t know what woke that guy up - Providence, I would say,” Nye said.

When the trio tried to go back downstairs their way was blocked by the fire.

They escaped by jumping off their 10-foot-high balcony.

“It is rare that we have people who are awakened and able to escape a fire of that magnitude,” Miller said.

The three then pounded on neighbors’ doors. One of them pulled the fire alarm at an adjoining complex.

That the people in Unit 20 were not awakened by a smoke detector - fire officials didn’t immediately know if the apartment had one - contrasts sharply with another fire less than an hour earlier.

A home at 2710 E. Joseph suffered only $1,500 damage when a space heater started a fire at around 3:45 a.m., said Fire Capt. Ken Snider.

“Thanks to a properly operating smoke detector and a quick response, the fire was confined to the laundry room with smoke damage throughout the house,” Snider said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo Map of fire area