Quiet week for fire crews

The number of calls Spokane Valley firefighters responded to during the week of Sept. 30 to Thursday was up, but there were no major calls in the mix. “I guess it was a fairly safe week,” said Bill Clifford, assistant fire marshal.

All the fires reported were small and caused little damage. A home had a small electrical fire in a wall, a bathroom fan malfunctioned and caused a fire in another home and there was also a grease fire reported. An apartment received minor damage when food on the stove caught fire. “They left the food on the burner and had left the apartment,” Clifford said.

Firefighters also responded to an illegal fire and a repeat offender was caught burning trash. “It looks like we’ve responded several times to this location, so this person was reported to the Spokane Clean Air Agency,” Clifford said. The man could face fines for his persistent illegal burning.

There were 177 EMS calls during the week and the 12 car accidents sent only two people to the hospital with minor injuries. Firefighters also responded to a call of a fire hydrant gushing water at 13414 E. Sprague Ave. just after 10 a.m. on Oct. 2. “Kids playing around probably,” Clifford said. “It was unknown how they turned it on.”

There was, of course, one child who had to be freed from a locked car. No week would be complete without at least one of those calls.