In brief: House fire near SCC claims resident’s life

A 66-year-old man died in a house fire Friday morning in Spokane.

Clarence Green, the sole occupant of the home at 3418 E. Marietta Ave., perished in the fire that began around 8 a.m. just north of Spokane Community College. The blaze charred an area of the white, single-story wood-frame house facing the street. A wheelchair ramp leading to the house was also damaged in the fire, and the heat melted areas of siding on a neighboring home.

Several engines quickly responded after a neighbor called 911, but Spokane Assistant Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said the flames spread so quickly that survival was unlikely by the time they arrived.

Green was a heavy smoker and there was oxygen in the home, Schaeffer said. Neighbors said Green was being treated for throat cancer and on hospice care.

It’s likely the oxygen tanks caused the fire, Schaeffer said.

An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

Man dies of injuries from blast, fire

A man burned in a Wednesday mobile home explosion in Chattaroy died Friday morning.

Michael Asselin, 51, and his 57-year-old wife were both badly burned when the mobile home Asselin lived in exploded Wednesday afternoon.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the fire as possible domestic violence. An investigator at the scene Thursday said it may have been an attempted homicide or a high-level assault.

The wife remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Pair face charges tied to date setup

A woman posing as a prostitute and a man were arrested in connection with an armed robbery Friday morning, police say.

Tenisha M. Herrell, 25, arranged to meet with the male victim on backpage.com, an online classifieds site frequently used by prostitutes and escorts, according to a Spokane police news release. Herrell, who went by the name of “Melanie” on the site, agreed to meet him early Friday morning near Hill N’ Dale Rotary Park near Colton Street and Jay Avenue, the release said.

When the victim arrived at about 2:30 a.m., two armed men robbed him and Herrell left with one of them, according to the release.

Police later arrested Nicholas R.L. Sailors, 19, and are looking for another male suspect, according to the release.

Herrell and Sailors were booked into Spokane County Jail on two charges of first-degree robbery each, according to the release.

There have been several robberies involving a backpage.com escort identifying herself as “Melanie” since July 2, according to the release.

Anyone with information on these crimes is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

Shooting suspect flees blueberry field

Multiple law enforcement agencies near Quincy were searching Friday for a man they say shot another man multiple times in the stomach.

Arnoldo Cazares Mendoza, 20, fled a blueberry field in a pickup truck after a shooting Friday morning, Grant County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Kyle Foreman said. Several field workers witnessed the shooting, Foreman said.

The victim was alive at the scene and was flown to Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee. His condition was not available.

Police found the truck Mendoza was driving at an orchard about a mile and a half from the shooting, Foreman said.

Mendoza is still on the loose and considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone who knows Mendoza’s whereabouts is asked to call 911.

Boise airport seeks East Coast nonstop

BOISE – Officials with the Boise Airport are hoping to win a grant that they can use to lure a nonstop flight between Boise and the East Coast.

The Idaho Statesman reported airport and business officials have raised about $100,000 so far in matching funds for the $700,000 grant. If the airport wins the grant, the money will be used to help cover startup costs for an airline to open nonstop service between Boise and a major hub city such as New York City, Atlanta or Washington, D.C.

Airport director Rebecca Hupp said the airport isn’t specifying which hub it prefers to increase opportunities to use the grant.

Eighty airports applied for the U.S. Department of Transportation grant last year, and Hupp expects stiff competition this year.