Pickup Runs Over Boy In Grocery Parking Lot In/Around: Trentwood, Dishman, Millwood, Opportunity, Greenacres

A 12-year-old boy who spent two days in the pediatric intensive care unit at a Spokane hospital after being run over in a grocery store parking lot in the Spokane Valley on Tuesday afternoon was released from the hospital Friday.

Chris Rancourt was picking up trash in the parking lot in front of the Safeway store on North Argonne. Rancourt bent over to pick up a piece of paper and was hit by a full-size pickup truck.

Rancourt’s uncle, Rick Rancourt, said the first couple of days were “touch-and-go” for the boy. But doctors now estimate he will make a full recovery.

“I’m happy to say he’s recovering quite nicely - almost miraculously,” Rick Rancourt said.

Rancourt’s uncle said the driver did not see the boy when he pulled the pickup out of its spot. Not knowing what he had hit, the driver stopped the truck on Rancourt while he checked, according to a Valley Fire report.

Seeing the boy, the driver moved the truck. Rancourt was pushed and dragged by the truck a short distance, according to the report.

Rancourt suffered cuts to his arm, stomach, hip and chest and swelling throughout his face.

He was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Blaze destroys boxcars

A fire in the Spokane Valley early Sunday caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to a company that recycles railroad ties in the Spokane Industrial Park.

The fire destroyed two boxcars full of railroad ties and a machine used to pick the ties out of the boxcars. A third boxcar and the railroad ties it was carrying were also damaged.

Initial damage estimates were as high as $700,000.

Firefighters, who were called to building N-10 about 3 a.m., battled the blaze at Midwest Pacific Resources for several hours before they were able to put it out.

Karl Bold, assistant chief of operations for the Spokane Valley Fire District, said the creosote used to preserve the railroad ties burned so hot that water sprayed on the fire turned to steam before it reached the flames.

Eventually firefighters were able to cool the fire enough to douse it with foam, which extinguished the fire.

The fire is still under investigation. Inspectors are looking into the possibility that the blaze was a rekindle of an earlier fire, Bold said.

However, because the fire burned so hot, Bold said the cause may never be determined.

Midway Pacific Resources purchases used railroad ties and resells them to railroad and landscape companies.

Fire damages pump house

An electrical fire scorched a sewage pump house at the corner of Heroy and Dick last Saturday morning.

Firefighters found the pump house smoldering when they arrived. They were forced to cut locks on the gate and on a storage shed to put out the small fire and shut down the pump house.

Two pumps and two motors were destroyed by the fire. Damage was estimated at $7,000.

Investigators determined the cause to be electrical.

Drug arrest

A passenger in a car stopped for a traffic infraction at First and Pines in the Valley last Saturday was arrested on a drug charge.

James Dempsey, 51, Spokane, was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

Deputies said they found numerous packages of cocaine and drug paraphernalia in the car. They believe Dempsey was intending to sell the cocaine.

Dempsey was booked into the Spokane County Jail.

The driver, Duane DeChenne, 33, was arrested on a charge of driving with a suspended license.

, DataTimes