Two-alarm blaze breaks out in Spokane warehouse

Spokane Fire Department crews battled a two-alarm blaze tonight that presented them with one challenge after another. Crews responded to the fire, which started in the 5,000 square-foot Insight Distributing warehouse at 207 N. Crestline Street, about 4:55 p.m., said Fire Chief Bobby Williams. The warehouse contained five vans with gasoline in the tanks and restaurant supplies – paper towels, toilet paper, paper and foam to-go boxes – stacked 20 to 30 feet high. Because of poor visibility and potentially unstable stacks that could fall on firefighters, crews backed out and are fighting the fire defensively from the outside, another challenge because the building’s exterior is metal. Crews expect to be there throughout the night, Williams said. An investigator is on the scene, but it’s still unknown what caused the fire or the extent of the damage. No injuries were reported. About 45 personnel responded to the fire. Insight Distributing has been in business for 30 years and at the Crestline location for 15. It provides restaurant supplies to businesses around the Inland Northwest and employs about 25 people.