Oily Rags Blamed In Furniture Store Blaze Spontaneous Combustion Is Third Case In A Month, Valley Fire Marshal Says

Fire ripped through a used furniture store Friday morning in the Spokane Valley, destroying the store’s contents.

Smoke and flames poured from Discount Furniture about 7:20 a.m. Firefighters controlled the initial blaze, but mattresses inside the store began to burn again while they prepared to clean up the store.

The store’s contents were still smoldering as firefighters dragged chairs, television sets, pictures and office furniture out of the building 2-1/2 hours after they arrived.

Spontaneous combustion from a pile of rags used to refinish furniture is believed to have caused the fire, said Paul Chase, fire marshal for the Spokane Valley Fire District.

A charred can of Tung Oil furniture finish sat in front of the smoky store.

Friday’s fire was the third in a month started because rags used to clean and refinish things were left in a pile, Chase said. Directions on cans of finishing and cleaning products instruct users to soak rags in water or to store them a metal container when finished using them, he said.

Damages to the store’s contents were estimated at $30,000. Structural damages have not been determined.

Store owner Craig Taylor was not insured.

Smoke filled adjoining businesses, including an unfinished furniture store owned by Taylor’s brother, Mark. Flames began to creep along the ceiling through the wall separating the businesses, but firefighters were able to knock them down before they damaged anything.

Damages to Mark Taylor’s store were unknown, but he was optimistic that the smoke damage was limited.

Cash found in fire

An electrical fire last Sunday woke a man from a nap and chased him from his Valley home, forcing him to leave nearly $2,000 in cash behind.

Ken Porter told Valley Fire investigators that he was asleep on the couch in his living room when the smell of smoke woke him about 11:40 p.m.

Porter raced from the burning house at 20215 E. Augusta and called 911. He was not injured.

But Porter left behind a stack of cash, which firefighters retrieved from the living room.

“Money was flying around the house when we got in there and we picked it up and gave it back to him,” said Eric Olson, the Valley Fire inspector who investigated the blaze.

Firefighters found $1,750 on the living room floor.

The house was not equipped with a smoke detector and Porter was fortunate to escape unharmed, Olson said.

Porter’s three pets were not so lucky. The fire, which burned a bathroom and an adjacent bedroom, killed Porter’s two dogs and his cat.

Faulty electrical wiring in the bathroom fan started the fire, Olson said.

Damage to the house was estimated at $40,000.

Man arrested after chase

Deputies arrested a man they said tried to speed away from pursuing officers early on Oct. 5.

A black Geo Storm sped south on Park Avenue from Broadway Avenue at nearly 70 mph just before 4 a.m.

Deputies chased the car to Eighth Avenue and Park, where the driver lost control and spun the car around in the intersection.

The car then took off again, racing west on Eighth at about 80 mph. The car began to weave onto the shoulder of the road and stopped at Eighth and Dickey Street.

Deputies arrested Louis Rubertt, 22, who they said was driving the car during the chase. Rubertt, who gave a Spokane address, was charged with attempting to elude a police vehicle, a felony.

A passenger in the car told deputies she tried to get Rubertt to stop the car during the pursuit and struggled with him for control of the steering wheel at one point, said Lt. David Wiyrick, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

Angered by his arrest, Rubertt tried to kick out the shield in the patrol car between the front and back seat in the patrol car while a deputy took him to the Spokane County Jail, Wiyrick said.

Bullets riddle house

Three bullets slammed into the side of a house in the Valley while its occupants sat inside.

The residents told deputies they were sitting in their living room when they heard three popping sounds outside their home on the 4700 block of North Lillian last Wednesday night.

Two bullet holes were found in one bedroom wall. A third was found in another bedroom.

No one was injured.

Deputies believe the shots were fired from a small caliber gun about 10 p.m., but were unable to get a description of the shooter.

, DataTimes