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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fire Safety Remains A Concern In Burgeoning Five Mile Prairie

A 17-acre arson fire that charred the edge of Five Mile Prairie last week tested some of the concerns facing the growing North Side neighborhood.

The main worries are response time, access and available water.

Fire Station 17 on Indian Trail was the first to respond to the alarm. The crowning flames on the edge of Strong Road were visible from the station, but reaching the fire was difficult.

“Strong Road is a horrible, dirt washboard,” said Lt. Walt Cromeenes. “It’s impossible to go up with any kind of haste. The bumps literally shake the hose off the rig.

“We’ve had an ongoing request to try to get something done with that road up to the top. It should be paved; it’s an important route,” he said.

A small old barn was just starting to burn as the crews arrived. They quickly put it out.

“Five more minutes of delay and it would have been burning,” said Cromeenes.

Days later, firefighters were still putting out hot spots rekindling in the dry field.

No homes or buildings were destroyed in the fire, but several were threatened as winds blew flames across the fields.

Scott Ryman was in his backyard, stomping out small fires as sparks landed on dry grass, said his dad, Paul Ryman, visiting from Oregon. Firefighters put out a larger fire in the yard.

“There was considerable concern for a while, when the wind was blowing exactly our direction,” he said.

Doug Metcalfe was hosing his roof, becoming increasingly irritated with “looky-lou’s” blocking his driveway, watching the fire.

“All these people come watch, but no one offers any assistance,” said Metcalfe. “They park in the driveways or on the road. Fire trucks wouldn’t be able to get to me if they had to.”

Two dozen engines, trucks and jeeps responded to the alarm. Television crews and reporters followed.

A World War II vintage PBY air tanker from Deer Park dropped 1,400 gallons of water and foam on the blaze on each pass. Pilot Eric Johnson scooped the water out of Long Lake.

“We call it the flying fire truck,” said Bill Berrigan, operations manager for the Department of Natural Resources.

“We send it out anytime the ground forces determine that they don’t have a good handle on a wildfire,” he said.

“That airtanker pilot, he was great. He was right on it,” said Ryman. “If not for that, it might have turned out different.”

Firefighters said water access wasn’t a problem. Two hydrants were nearby to fill the tank trucks.

Investigators have proof the fire was set.

“We found some evidence at the point of origin, the place where the fire started, but we can’t give any details,” said city fire investigator Ernie Nye.

The fire started on a weedy slope across from the new Strong Road water tank.

“We have several people of interest who we are trying to locate,” said Nye. “We are getting quite a bit of information from the public.”

The fire started in the city, then burned into the county. It was contained within a few hours, but crews remained on the scene for 24 hours, dousing hot spots.

, DataTimes