Resident rescued from fire

Residents at Maplewood Gardens in north Spokane were back in their rooms Wednesday after a Tuesday night fire damaged one unit and forced a large temporary evacuation.

No one was injured seriously at the senior assisted- and independent-living facility, said administrator Karen Burgerson.

Firefighters from Ladder 1 downtown rescued a woman inside the burning fourth-floor apartment at 1100 N. Superior St. following the 10:38 p.m. call, said Assistant Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer.

She was transported to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, where she was later released.

“The firefighters did a good job of locating her quickly and getting her out,” Schaeffer said

A second resident who helped alert her neighbors also went to the hospital for treatment and was later released, Burgerson said.

Sprinklers inside the burning apartment kept the bedroom fire in check long enough for firefighters to rescue the occupant and extinguish it, Schaeffer said.

Two staff members had evacuated nearly all the fourth floor by the time firefighters arrived. Firefighters then checked rooms to make sure everyone was OK.

Firefighters brought the fire under control quickly. Eight paramedics set up a triage center to evaluate and treat about 15 residents.

The facility currently has about 200 residents. The 1979 Maplewood Gardens building is adjacent to the Academy senior living facility in the historic Holy Names Academy building.

The cause of the fire was under investigation but may have been electrical or accidental, Schaeffer said.

Burgerson said she and her staff were up until 4 a.m. Wednesday cleaning up water damage so they could get residents back into the affected units. In addition to the unit that had the fire, two other units were vacated temporarily.

“It was a great response by Spokane and my staff,” she said.