Spokane Valley firefighters douse trash blaze at transfer station

Spokane Valley firefighters worked Saturday morning to fight a trash fire at the Spokane Valley Transfer Station.

Smoke poured from under the roof covering the trash, but the fire stayed within the waste, and no damage to the facility was reported, said Patrick Erickson, Spokane Valley Fire Department media manager.

Crews were called to the station, 3941 N. Sullivan Road, just before 6:30 a.m., Erickson said. The transfer station is operated by the Spokane County Regional Solid Waste System.

The fire was in the midst of a large garbage pile, he said.

“Firefighters spent a good chunk of the morning working to locate it,” Erickson said.

A firefighter wearing a mask attached to an air tank used a front-end loader “to basically rip apart this pile of garbage to get to the source,” Erickson said.

Once the fire was located, crews drenched it, Erickson said. Spokane County Fire District 8 assisted in the effort. Firefighters left the station around 10:15 a.m. Spokane County Regional Solid Waste workers were continuing to monitor the site.

Erickson said the cause of the fire is under investigation.