Tenants Rescued From Fire

Residents of a downtown Spokane apartment building made an unscheduled bus stop early Sunday after a fire started in their building.

Firefighters arrived at 4:24 a.m. at the Helen Apartments, 173 S. Adams. They helped evacuate the 31-unit, three-story building and rescued stragglers caught in the dense smoke on the third floor, said Joe Stapleton, battalion chief for the Spokane Fire Department.

The Spokane Transit Authority supplied a bus for the residents to wait inside, until the Red Cross arrived.

The fire started in apartment No. 306 and damaged its contents and walls, Stapleton said. The fire was contained to that apartment.

A fire alarm woke residents. No one was taken to the hospital, but one woman was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. She suffers from asthma.

The cause of the fire was being investigated. The apartment’s tenant was seen leaving the building shortly before the fire started, Stapleton said. , DataTimes