Fire Destroys Warehouse; Sends Up Toxic Cloud Crowds Told To Leave To Avoid Fumes From Burning Chemicals

Flames swallowed an industrial building east of downtown Spokane late Friday, and clouds of smoke from toxic chemicals burning inside forced the closure of a Spokane River bridge.

While at least six fire companies battled the blaze at Designer Decal Inc., police asked dozens of onlookers packed along Sprague Avenue and the James Keefe Bridge to leave the area because of the fumes.

The screen-print manufacturing warehouse at 1120 E. First contained paints, inks and plastics.

No evacuations of nearby homes or businesses were ordered. There were no reported injuries.

Firefighters couldn’t immediately determine the cause of the fire.

“I don’t know what I can do. I can’t believe this,” said Designer Decal salesman Gary Warrick, who warned firefighters of the hazardous materials stored in the building.

Officer Jeff Barrington, the first on the scene, turned his patrol car down Ivory Street about 9:30 p.m., after seeing burning power lines.

Two hours later, he was still standing at Ivory and First watching the two-story metal building cave in.

“We drove up and the power lines attached to the building were on fire,” he said. “Lines started dropping.”

Barrington said the fire started “right at the front door.”

As flames began devouring the structure, firefighters decided not to enter. Portions of the roof had already collapsed, and they believed the building would be a total loss.

Washington Water Power Co. sent crews to turn off power and gas to the burning building.

WWP spokeswoman Debbie Simock said it is unlikely that the fire was caused by a downed power line or transformer explosion. There were no reports of downed lines prior to the fire, she said.

The Keefe Bridge, which funnels traffic from Interstate 90 to Hamilton, was closed at 10 p.m.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo