Minor fires mark week for valley firefighters

Minor was the name of the game the week of Dec. 6-12 for the Spokane Valley Fire Department. There were no major fires and the number of calls were down from the previous week at 221.

A small fire started on a covered deck next to a manufactured home at 2601 N. Barker Road just before 1 p.m. on Dec. 6. The residents had left the home shortly before the fire began, said assistant fire marshal Bill Clifford. The fire is still under investigation, but may have been started by smoking materials, Clifford said.

The flames did about $10,000 in damage to the deck and exterior siding. “It didn’t make its way inside the trailer, which was good,” Clifford said.

There were several vehicle fires reported. A car involved in a police chase caught fire in a driveway in the 200 block of North Bessie Road late Tuesday. “Some homeowners woke up with a car in their driveway that was on fire,” Clifford said. “We got there and put the fire out. The police were taking care of the rest of the investigation.”

A person involved in a car accident tried to drive their car home the afternoon of Dec. 6. “They got to Sullivan and Broadway and it caught fire,” he said.

A suspicious truck fire was reported at 11003 E. Empire Ave. at 4:34 a.m. Sunday and investigators were called to help with a suspicious tractor fire in Spokane County Fire District 3.

Crews responded to 25 car accidents, including 16 reported Sunday. “Usually that’s the amount we get in a week,” he said. “We had a little bit of white stuff on the ground.”

A messy accident was reported on Interstate 90 near Barker Road at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 6. Two vehicles were driving west on I-90 when one tried to merge into a lane that was already occupied, Clifford said. One of the drivers spun out, flipped over the center median and landed in the eastbound traffic lanes, he said. Two people were treated for injuries at the scene and one person was taken to the hospital for treatment, Clifford said.