Fire calls include freeing child from playground equipment

A 4-year-old girl was among the people the Spokane Valley Fire Department helped in the seven days that ended Wednesday.

Firefighters rescued the girl from a climbing toy at the Dishman Commons playground at 16th Avenue and Herald Road.

“She kind of got herself tangled up in it and her mother wasn’t able to lift her through it,” Fire Marshal Kevin Miller said.

The other general service call for the week was to get a young child out of a locked car.

Three calls to assist other agencies involved the three-alarm fire July 24 in the Joel Building in downtown Spokane, a body in the Spokane River and a criminal suspect who needed first aid.

Miller said a Spokane Valley engine crew handled 11 emergency medical calls in 10 hours at the Spokane Fire Department’s Station 1 while Spokane firefighters fought the Joel blaze.

About 12:30 Sunday afternoon, firefighters helped the Spokane County sheriff’s diving team remove a man’s body from the Spokane River.

Miller said a witness went to the Fire Department’s Station 3 in Liberty Lake to report seeing a body in the river about a half-mile west of Harvard Road.

The body, caught on rocks about 60 feet from shore, later was identified as that of Spokane resident Anderson D. Corral, 25, who disappeared in the previous week while swimming near the Idaho state line.

In all, Miller said, Spokane Valley firefighters responded to 223 calls, 170 of which were for emergency medical service.

Four structure fires all were minor: a couple of sheds, an overheated furnace and some debris that was found burning Monday outside Sunrise Elementary School, where some windows had been broken.

Miller said five grass fires in the period were minor.

Only one of 11 vehicle accidents involved serious injuries, a crash Sunday afternoon at Trent Avenue and Lillian Road that sent three people to hospitals.

Thirteen automatic alarms all were false, Miller said.

Two hazardous material calls included a natural gas leak Monday afternoon at the meter for an industrial building in the 5900 block of East Sharpe Avenue. An Avista crew shut of the gas while firefighters stood by.

Miller said firefighters also stood by while power company crews dealt with three downed electric lines in the past week.