A man accused of trying to light his apartment complex on fire gave a surveillance camera the middle-finger salute before doing so, fire officials allege.

Ian W. Godfrey, 29, said he was angry with a flier being distributed at the HiFumi En Apartments, 926 E. 8th Ave., when he lit one on fire and walked through the building, according to the Spokane Fire Department.

The smoke triggered the apartment's overhead sprinklers. Fire officials suspected arson, and the apartment manager recognized Godfrey from the surveillance video.

Godfrey was arrested that day for attempted first-degree arson. He was released on his own recognizance after appearing in Superior Court Wednesday.

A 13-year-old boy has been arrested allegedly setting fire to a vacant home in north Spokane last month.

The boy was booked into Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center after being arrested at Glover Middle School. He was to appear before a judge on Monday, officials said.

Investigators with the Spokane Fire Department say the boy confessed to setting fire to a home at 4218 N. Ash St. on March 30. Crews quickly extinguished the blaze, which was confined to one bedroom and the roof area above that room. The rest of the home suffered extensive heat and smoke damage.

The suspect faces a charge of first-degree arson.

A firefighter standing outside a station at West 1st Avenue and South Walnut Street Friday witnessed a stabbing and treated the victim's head injury, authorities say.

Dean Carr was on the south side of the fire station when he saw a man approach two people who were sitting in the grassy area just south of the station about 6:15 p.m., according to court documents.

Carr called 911 when a fight broke out and saw the assailant pick up two sleeping bags and walk away. He treated the man for a stab wound to the head and identified Richard A. Sala, 21, as the attacker. Spokane police had found a knife with blood on it in Sala's right front pocket, documents say.

Sala, who has previous convictions for assault, said he fought with the couple because he believes the sleeping bags belong to him, police say. He was arrested for first-degree robbery. The sleeping bags were recovered.

Two hours later, another stabbing was reported at 2305 W. Dean Ave. Suspect Kenneth W. Middleton, 32, was arrested for first-degree assault for allegedly attacking a man who was arguing with the man's own wife.

Both men appeared in Superior Court on Monday.

A suspended Spokane firefighter’s wrongful arrest lawsuit against the Washington State Patrol over a botched child pornography investigation is headed to trial after an appellate court ruling Wednesday.

A three-person panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals says false statements made by WSP investigators amounted to intentional and reckless conduct that infringed on Spokane fire Lt. Todd Chism’s civil rights. The two WSP employees named in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, Detective Rachel Gardner and Sgt. John Sager, shouldn’t be granted immunity because of their actions, the court ruled.

The ruling was issued the same day $10 million claim was filed against against the state of Washington alleging WSP Troopers Greg Birkeland and Greg Riddell used excessive force when they arrested Chism in a separate incident in April 2010.

Read the rest of my story here.

Two stolen cars were set on fire in the Indian Trial area Wednesday night, sparking a small brush fire.

Spokane firefighters responded to reports of flames and explosions from a remote forested hilltop east of Indian Trial Road.

Crews accessed the area through gates and narrow trail and found the car fully engulfed, with flames spreading to less than an acre of land.

The Spokane Fire Department assisted Fire District 9 in controlling the blaze. No injures were reported.

One car, a 2000 VW Passat, was stolen from a home in the 12000 block of North Hemlock Street on Sunday or Monday.

The other, a 2010 Ford Escape, was stolen from the 600 block of East Lakeview Lane on Friday or Saturday.

Both were taken from garages after the owners left the keys inside, according to the Spokane County Sheriff's Office.

The burned cars are pictured courtesy KHQ-TV.

COLVILLE – Embattled Spokane firefighter Todd Chism won his latest legal battle with the Washington State Patrol on Thursday when a jury cleared him of all charges stemming from a violent 2010 confrontation that injured him and two Washington State Patrol troopers.

 A Stevens County jury exonerated the suspended Chism of four felony counts and a misdemeanor resisting arrest, stemming from an early-morning melee outside his Nine Mile Falls home on April 6, 2010.

But the jury not only found him not guilty, they ordered the state to pay for his attorneys’ fees.

Read the rest of Tom Clouse's story here.

Past coverage:

May 19, 2010: New prosectuor named in Chism case

April 23, 2010: Chism threatened to kill troopers, WSP said

April 9, 2010: Firefighter Tasered in DUI arrest

Police are asking for the public’s help to determine how a 40-year-old man ended up dead in the Spokane River on Friday.

 Keith A. Millheim’s body was pulled from the Spokane River after being spotted under the Sandifur Bridge in People’s Park about 5:12 p.m.

Millheim’s body was pinned by a log “in a particularly treacherous and fast moving section of the river,” according to the Spokane Fire Department.

The “very difficult and technically challenging” recovery was a joint effort by the fire department’s marine unit and Spokane County Sheriff’s Office dive team members.

Police say Millheim was released from Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center on July 25. Investigators are trying to determine where he was and who he stayed with in the days after his release.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

An account has been created to raise money for the family and funeral expenses of a 67-year-old woman killed in a fire at her northeast Spokane home last week.

The fire at 4128 E. Princeton Ave. destroyed the home where Inez L. Williams lived.

Family members are hoping to raise funds to pay for Williams' memorial service and burial and for the clean up of the charred remains of Williams’ home.

“Everything’s for Grandma,” said Melissa Hebert, 19.

Williams was an animal lover who knew tragedy well - her other son, Terry Palm, was killed in 2002 in a murder case that remains unsolved.

Williams is pictured in 2008 with a photo of Palm.

Fire officials say Williams died of smoke inhalation July 15 after her cigarette ignited her oxygen supply. Several pets, including at least two dogs, died in the fire.

Donations can be made at any Numerica Credit Union under the account “Memorial account for Inez Williams.”

A woman and her dogs died in a fire that ripped through her northeast Spokane home Friday. 

Inez L. Williams, 67, was described by friends and family as an animal lover who had lived at 4128 E. Princeton Ave. for decades.

Fire officials are investigating how the fire at the double-wide trailer began, but the woman’s niece, Kim Staggs, said her aunt had large oxygen tanks in the home and often smoked in bed.

Read the rest of my story here. Williams’ son, Terry Allen Palm, and his girlfriend, Angela Walsh went missing in 2002 in a case that remains unsolved. Read more here.

(Williams is pictured in 2008 with a photo of Palm.)

Authorities say a man confessed to setting a building adjacent to a downtown Spokane apartment complex on fire early Saturday as retaliation for the occupants “jumping him” a few days ago.

Israel Barrera, 29, called Spokane police to confess and ask for treatment to second-degree burns he sustained while setting the fire at 411 S. Maple St., Officer Tim Moses said in a news release.

An investigator with the Spokane Fire Department arrested Barrera at a hospital for first-degree arson. He sustained after sustaining burns caused by a “flammable vapor explosion,” from using of an accelerant, according to a fire department news release.

The home was unoccupied at the time and Barrera was the only person injured.

There is significant damage to the house due to the use of accelerant and residents will not be able to occupy it, police said. Damage is estimated at $40,000.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department was the top department in a firefighter stair climbing competition in Seattle last weekend.

The Spokane Fire Department placed 8th out of 118 departments. A team of 47 Spokane firefighters participated in the annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb, which raises money for blood cancer research through the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Spokane firefighters raised more than $23,000, nearly twice what they raised last year. Results for this year are being calculated. Donations can be made here. Last year's competition raised more than $780,000.

About 1,300 firefighters participated, climbing 69 flights of stairs and 1,311 steps at the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle.

Several local firelighters placed in the top 30, including Paul Kimball and Mark Knokey of Spokane Valley, Steven Harms of Spokane County Fire District #9 and Jason Keen and Eric Ross of Spokane City

Complete results can be found here.

A retired Spokane firefighter with a history of impaired driving and a conviction for vehicular homicide was arrested again Thursday after a state trooper smelled alcohol on his breath.

David W. Batty, 55, of Elk, had a blood alcohol level of twice the legal limit for driving when he was stopped for speeding about 11:30 a.m. at milepost 310 on U.S. Highway 2, according to Washington State Patrol.

Batty was arrested for felony drunken driving because of a conviction in 1993 for a fatal, alcohol-related car crash on the same road.

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Michael Price set Batty’s bond at $5,000 today and prohibited him from driving and from consuming alcohol.

“Apparently Mr. Batty’s had some alcohol treatment on a couple of occasions, and, regretfully, it doesn’t appear to have taken hold,” Price said. I’m sure Mr. Batty is a nice gentleman, but I’ve got some real concerns about him being out there driving a vehicle with his inability to control his alcohol consumption.”

Deputy Prosecutor George Gagnon said he wasn’t concerned that Batty was a flight risk.

“We’re more interested here in community safety,” Gagnon said. “He’s already killed one person.”

Batty was rehired by the Spokane Fire Department after serving time in prison for vehicular homicide but was on medical leave when he caused a crash in January 2007 that killed three people. He was not charged in that crash but never returned to the Fire Department.

Batty’s latest DUI conviction came after he was stopped in July 2008 and tests showed he was impaired on prescription drugs and alcohol. He was sentenced to nine months in jail in 2009 for felony drunken driving.

Batty told police on Thursday that he had two drinks early that morning and had taken four prescription medications.

His public defender, Derek Reid, said Batty is in “significant pain” because of a back injury.

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A parked Spokane Fire Department engine with nobody at the wheel rolled into a home where firefighters were making an aid call.

A Spokane firefighter who was caught skipping work in 2007 to teach high school will get another “last chance” and has served a second 60-day suspension after violating sick leave policy earlier this year.

The Spokane Civil Service Commission this week voted unanimously to uphold the new disciplinary action for Firefighter James Frederick who appealed the new punishment, arguing that mental impairment led him to violate sick leave policy earlier this year.

“The current medical research shows that chronic back pain, diabetes and steroid treatment all cause cognitive problems,” Frederick wrote in a letter to the commission. “I have had all three of these conditions this past year.”

Read Jon Brunt’s story here.

Spokane firefighters were sent to the wrong address when responding to a fatal house fire early Sunday.

Investigators believe James L. Stowell, 46, died of smoke inhalation, but they’re still trying to determine what caused the fire at 1003 E. Ermina Ave., said Assistant Chief Brian Schaeffer.

Initial response was delayed when Firefighters were dispatched to the wrong address but were rerouted before arrival.

They arrived at Stowell’s home at 1:22 a.m. and found it engulfed in flames; police already were on scene. The initial 911 call was made at 1:12 a.m.

The fire at the 700-square-foot home was under control within 15 minutes. Nearly 30 firefighters, three engines, two senior ladders and a heavy rescue rig battled the blaze.

911 call from house fire

The aunt of a boy rescued from a burning Spokane home early today told a 911 dispatcher the boy was trapped in the house and she feared for his life.

“The house is on fire and there’s a baby in it,” the woman exclaimed in a short 911 call released by the Spokane Fire Department. “…Oh my God. He’s going to die. He’s going to die!”

But the boy was saved. He’s now recovering at Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Read the full story by Mike Prager here.

Investigators continue to search for an arsonist responsible for leaving more than two dozen low-income people homeless last weekend.

Firefighters were called to the HiFumi En Apartments, 926 E. Eighth Ave., early Saturday morning. The blaze did extensive damage: Officials said it could take six weeks to reopen the upstairs of the building and even longer for the bottom floor. 

Steve Cervantes, executive director of Housing Solutions, said 41 people lived in the building, but 15 found temporary housing with friends or family. On Friday, social service agencies moved the last 22 low-income, elderly or disabled residents from a Post Falls motel where they had been staying since fire broke out.

Temporary accommodation was found at numerous area hotels, group homes and nursing centers, according to a SNAP spokesman.

“I don’t think SNAP has ever been involved in a situation where we had to find residence for so may people in such a short time,” Ron Hardin said.

Meanwhile, fire investigators hope to make an arrest shortly, said Assistant Chief Brian Schaeffer.

Cervantes said two other recent fires at the HiFumi En building also were suspected arsons. About six months ago, someone threw a cigarette in a trash can.

That incident caused little damage, but a second fire about three months ago was more serious. That time, someone set fire to a mattress left in a hallway. Cervantes said quick action by a resident prevented serious damage.

Past coverage:

May 13: Residents adrift after fire

May 14: Fire evacuees face a dilemma

Spokane firefighter Todd Chism has been placed on unpaid layoff status pending the resolution of felony charges that he assaulted Washington State Patrol troopers in Stevens County last month.

City Administrator Ted Danek informed Chism, a lieutenant, of the change during an afternoon meeting at City Hall today, said city spokeswoman Marlene Feist. The change takes effect Friday. Chism earned $93,535 per year.

Chism had been on paid leave from the Spokane Fire Department since April 8, two days after an early-morning confrontation with two troopers alongside Highway 291 just outside the driveway to Chism’s home.

Unpaid layoff status means Chism is no longer employed by the city of Spokane but could be reinstated if felony charges are dropped or reduced to misdemeanors. That happened to Spokane police Detective Jay Mehring and Officer Jay Olsen, but Olsen then resigned before Chief Anne Kirkpatrick fired him.

Mehring and Olsen both received back pay for their time on unpaid layoff status because neither was convicted of a felony.

Past coverage:

April 23: Chism threatened to kill troopers, WSP said

April 9: Firefighter Tasered in DUI arrest

A man escaped serious injury Thursday when a house fell on him.

The man, who was not identified, was trying to move the home at 3633 E. Second Ave., which had been sold by the state Department of Transportation as part of the North Spokane Corridor.

He apparently was working alone when the house shifted and collapsed onto what was left of the foundation.

Read the rest of Thomas Clouse’s story here.

A Spokane firefighter exonerated in a child pornography investigation two years ago threatened to beat a state trooper “to death” in a confrontation that led to felony charges Friday in Stevens County Superior Court, prosecutors allege.

New court documents show two Washington State Patrol troopers told investigators that Lt. Todd Chism’s anger during the April 6 arrest began after one told Chism he seemed familiar, then erupted into a profanity-laced tirade following a brawl in which he was stunned with a Taser several times. One trooper broke his thumb; another severely injured a hand.

Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen filed the documents Friday when he charged Chism with two felony counts of third-degree assault and two misdemeanors: resisting arrest and being in physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Chism, a Spokane Fire Department veteran, has been on paid leave since April 8.

“There were some aspects of this decision that were very unusual,” Rasmussen said. “Certainly the history of Mr. Chism and the things that had happened between him and the state patrol warranted careful examination of the material.”

Chism’s lawyer, Carl Oreskovich, said his client’s version of what happened “is substantially different from the summary we see from the state patrol.”

He emphasized that the charging document “indicates Mr. Chism was cooperative until a second trooper arrived and made reference that he knew who Mr. Chism was.”

Read the rest of my story here

Past coverage: April 9: Firefighter Tasered in DUI arrest