Vacant house ignites twice in same week

A long vacant house at 806 N. Park Road caught fire twice during the week of Sept. 20-26. A small fire was reported and extinguished on Sept. 20 and the Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to a much larger fire Sunday morning.

“Somebody broke back into the building and set another fire,” said assistant fire marshal Bill Clifford. The house is empty, so there are no furnishings to burn. “It worked its way up a wall and into the attic space.”

The department also responded to an arson fire at the home in the spring. “I believe it’s for …

A long vacant house at 806 N. Park Road caught fire twice during the week of Sept. 20-26. A small fire was reported and extinguished on Sept. 20 and the Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to a much larger fire Sunday morning.

“Somebody broke back into the building and set another fire,” said assistant fire marshal Bill Clifford. The house is empty, so there are no furnishings to burn. “It worked its way up a wall and into the attic space.”

The department also responded to an arson fire at the home in the spring. “I believe it’s for sale,” he said. “The house has been boarded up. I think it’s just ending up being a nuisance for us.”

There weren’t any other major fires among the 241 calls received during the week, but there were several illegal outside fires reported. One person was burning construction debris. Clifford said the entire area remains under a burn ban. “There’s no fires, period,” he said.

The department sent a fire engine, a battalion chief and a safety officer to the four-alarm apartment fire in Spokane on Tuesday. Another Valley crew was standing by at one of the Spokane fire stations to respond to any other calls received, Clifford said.

Crews responded to 187 EMS calls and one extrication call at the Spokane International Airport. Clifford said he’s not sure if the department was sent accidentally or if dispatchers simply wanted extra help in case a plane that was having trouble crashed. “It ended up not being a crash landing, so we were canceled,” he said.

Nineteen car accidents sent eight people to the hospital during the week. Crews were also called twice to rescue children accidentally locked inside vehicles.