Crews kept busy with EMT calls

One of the last calls the Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to the week of May 9-15 was a fatal traffic accident at Sprague Avenue and Fancher Road at 11:47 p.m. Wednesday.

A car hit a power pole at the intersection. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene and his passenger was treated for serious injuries and taken to a local hospital, said assistant fire marshal Bill Clifford.

The Spokane Valley Police Department said in a news release that the driver was not wearing his seatbelt but the passenger was. Alcohol and/or drugs are thought to be a contributing factor in the crash, police said.

In all the Fire Department responded to 278 calls during the week, which is about 50 more than normal. The number was driven higher in part by the 218 emergency medical service calls received.

Crews responded to three power pole fires on Monday, which often happens when the area gets its first rainfall after a prolonged stretch of dry weather, Clifford said. They also responded to a couple of small kitchen fires that caused little damage, as well as eight illegal yard-waste fires and two vehicle fires.

A fire was discovered in tall grass and weeds behind a gas station at Valleyway Avenue and Pines Road at 3:56 a.m. on Monday. Investigators are treating it as a suspicious fire, Clifford said. “It appears to be human caused,” he said.

A fire started by a transient’s camp fire was reported in the Dishman Hills just before 4 p.m. on Monday.

A hazardous materials call was received from Spokane Industries in the Spokane Industrial Park on Sullivan Road at 6:46 p.m. on Tuesday. “They had two chemicals that had contact with each other and had a reaction,” Clifford said. “It sounds like a containment area overflowed.”

The business was evacuated and additional hazardous material crews from the Spokane Fire Department responded to assist. Crews were there for nearly four hours and the business was advised to shut down until a specialist could respond to clean up the mess, Clifford said.

A 12-year-old boy received minor injuries when he ran across the street while walking to school and was hit by a car Tuesday morning in the 1500 block of North Park Road. Sixteen other car accidents were reported during the week and six additional people were taken to the hospital.