Sparks from metal saw start fire

Two unusual fires were among the 586 calls the Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to between Aug. 7 and Aug. 20, with a burning car starting a grass fire and flying sparks setting carpet samples on fire.

During the afternoon of Aug. 12 a worker was using a metal saw to cut hinges in the 9900 block of East Montgomery when the sparks started a fire. “Just a few feet away was a pallet of carpet samples,” said Assistant Fire Marshal Bill Clifford. “On that pallet was also the gas can used to fuel the saw.”

Workers were able to drag the pallet outside the building before the flames spread, Clifford said.

That evening callers reported that a car had rammed the front doors of Savage Land Pizza on Dishman-Mica Road. The car was next reported on fire in the 5900 block of East Eighth Avenue. The fire spread to nearby dry grass and trees before firefighters arrived, Clifford said.

Clifford said he’s not sure why the car rammed the business. “They didn’t bash through the doors,” he said. “They never got into the building and then they left.”

Other calls from Aug. 7-20

Aug. 7: Firefighters responded to an unattended campfire in the Dishman Hills Natural Area.

Aug. 8: Wood in the hopper of a wood chipper caught on fire in the 10300 block of East Buckeye Lane.

Children playing with a recreational fire spread the fire to nearby grass and bushes in the 11900 block of East Railroad Circle.

Aug. 9: Burning extremely hot fuels in a garage wood stove started the garage on fire in the 5000 block of North Harvard Road. The fire caused $4,000 in damage.

Aug. 12: Firefighters responded twice to put out the same campfire in the Dishman-Hills Natural Area.

A tree fell on a car at 221 S. Sullivan Road during a windstorm. The person inside was able to get out unharmed.

Aug. 14: An arson fire damaged a home in the 1500 block of South Bettman Road.

Aug. 18: A garage fire was reported in the 500 block of South Carnahan. It is considered suspicious and is under investigation. A vacant home caught fire in the 5400 block of East Fourth Avenue. Squatters had been living in the home.

By the numbers: Firefighters responded to 586 calls from Aug. 7-20. The calls included 449 emergency medical services calls, 12 illegal trash or recreational fires, 10 downed power lines, 12 brush fires and two children accidentally locked inside vehicles.