Fire damages Spokane Valley law office

Fire damaged a law office on North Pines Road early today, but Spokane Valley firefighters were able to stop it from becoming a larger loss. The 5 a.m. fire at Waldo, Schweda and Montgomery, 2206 N. Pines Road., was spotted by a clerk at a nearby 7-Eleven store, who reported smoke coming from the building’s roof. Firefighters found the offices filled with smoke when they arrived and located the smoldering fire along a ceiling fan in a bathroom, where the fire appeared to have started. Crews removed ceiling and insulation to get at the fire and to make sure it had not spread to adjacent areas. Bill Clifford, spokesman for the Spokane Valley Fire Department, said the loss would be about $60,000, including repair of widespread smoke damage. Clifford said he believed that the law office files were not damaged. “There really wasn’t a lot of fire damage,” he said. Twenty-seven firefighters in seven fire units responded to the call. No one was injured.