Chimney fires among response calls

It must be fall – the first chimney fires of the season were among the 194 service calls to the Spokane Valley Fire Department from Oct. 10 through Monday.

Homeowners with fireplaces are urged to have them professionally cleaned yearly to remove any nests or creosote build-up, said department spokesman Bill Clifford.

“This is the time we start seeing chimney fires,” Clifford said.

During that week, the department also handled eight calls from people reporting structure fires. One turned out to be a legal burn in a fire pit and another was a brush fire that caused minor damage to a deck, Clifford said. At one home, someone appeared to have fallen asleep smoking a cigarette and set the couch on fire.

“It could have been much worse, but we caught it in time,” said Clifford.

The department also went out on five brush fires, 15 car crashes and nine fire alarms, all false.

Firefighters responded to three hazardous-material incidents and seven service calls, two of which involved people locking themselves out of their house with young children left inside.

As usual, medical emergencies made up the bulk of the department’s work, with 139 medical calls during that period.