Spokane Valley Fire roundup: Crews subdue flames, preventing total loss of home; cause under investigation
Firefighters were able to save a home from destruction when they responded to a report of a fire in the 10500 block of East 14th Avenue at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Crews found smoke and flames coming from the exterior of the back side of the home when they arrived and immediately worked to put water on the fire to slow the spread, said department spokeswoman Julie Happy. Additional arriving crews were able to enter the front of the house and do a quick search for anyone trapped inside, but all 10 residents were safe.
The fire spread to the attic, but crews were able to stop it from moving through most of the interior of the home. Holes were cut into the roof in order to extinguish the fire in the attic, and there was fire damage to the back deck as well. The Red Cross responded to offer assistance to the residents, but the home is not a total loss and can be repaired, Happy said.
Crews from Spokane County Fire District 8 and the Spokane Fire Department responded to assist but were not needed. Several Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies who were the first to arrive on the scene used their fire extinguishers in an effort to slow the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Other calls April 5-11
April 6: Crews were called to a traffic accident at Trent Avenue and Argonne Road at 12:31 p.m. A car had crashed through a fence and gone over a swale wall and the driver was trapped inside. The driver was safely removed from the car after it was stabilized. A vehicle fire was reported on Trent overpass on Sullivan Road at 3:49 p.m. The car had suffered a broken radiator hose and was not on fire. The crew helped push the car off the road.
April 7: Members of the Rescue Task Force responded to the 13300 block of East 24th Avenue to assist the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office SWAT while they served a high-risk warrant. There were no injuries, and the task force returned to duty.
April 8: Residents in a home in the 10800 block of East 24th Avenue reported the smell of smoke in the home at 4:03 a.m. A resident in the basement woke up smelling smoke but the source could not be found. The crew checked the home and smelled smoke in the basement. The source was traced to a turtle tank in the basement bedroom, where a heat lamp had fallen over onto a pile of potting soil, setting it on fire. Potting soil is flammable. The fire was put out and the heat lamp removed. Firefighters returning from a call spotted an illegal fire in the 13100 block of East Seventh Avenue at 8:37 p.m. The resident agreed to put out the fire.
April 9: An appliance fire was reported in the 2700 block of North Bowdish Road at 12:15 a.m. The resident said she was cooking food in the oven when it started to smoke, and she turned it off. A crew checked the nearby cabinets and found that they were hot. They unplugged the stove and advised the resident to have it repaired or replaced. A train hit a car in the 27000 block of East Kildea Road at 10:26 a.m. The collision happened in Washington, but both the train and the car came to a stop in Idaho. The driver of the car was injured but not critically.
April 11: An illegal fire was reported in the 2600 block of North Robie Road at 12:42 a.m. When crews arrived, they found a couch on fire in a vacant lot and a deputy standing with a person believed to have set the fire. The fire was put out. A vehicle fire was reported in the 18900 block of East Wellesley Avenue at 3:48 a.m. Crews found a four-door sedan fully on fire sitting perpendicular to the road. The driver claimed his car had overheated and caught on fire, but crews noticed nearby “road closed” barricades had been run over and tire marks showed the car had slid off the road. Police were called, and the fire was put out. A possible illegal fire was reported in the 3900 block of North Murray Road at 9:46 a.m. The homeowner was burning yard debris, which is illegal. The homeowner agreed to put out the fire. A brush fire was reported in the 2400 block of North Pines Road at 10 p.m. Crews found a woman who said the fire was out. Crews investigated and found a smoldering fire that appeared to be a pile of trash. The fire was put out. Another brush fire was reported in the same block at 10:35 p.m. This time crews found a small pile of burning pine needles. The fire was put out.
By the numbers: Crews responded to 368 calls the week of April 5-11, including 303 calls for emergency medical services. Additional calls included 14 car crashes, a fire alarm set off by construction dust and a fire alarm activated by someone doing their hair.