Car, motorcycle, garaged damaged in crash, fire

A speeding driver apparently not paying enough attention to the road paid the price for it Tuesday evening.

The driver was heading east on Wellesley at a high rate of speed near Flora just after 8 p.m., said Spokane Valley Fire Department Assistant Fire Marshal Bill Clifford. “The road does not continue straight,” he said. “If you continue straight as he did, you end up in somebody’s garage. Then his car caught on fire.”

There was substantial damage to the garage, a motorcycle and a car due to the crash and fire. “Bystanders got him out and away before firefighters arrived,” Clifford said.

The driver was treated at the scene for minor injuries and then taken into custody by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Clifford said.

Other calls from

June 26 to July 9

June 27: A roof fire at the Barney’s Harvest Foods at 11204 E. Dishman-Mica Road was reported at 2 a.m. The electrical fire caused an estimated $60,000 in damage.

June 29: Police spotted several juveniles swimming in the Terrace View Pool at 3 a.m. They climbed over the fence and ran away when they saw police, but one 14-year-old girl was left behind when she fell off the fence and hurt her ankle. Crews removed her from the fenced enclosure and treated her ankle.

June 30: Firefighters helped free a dog that was accidentally locked inside a car in the 15700 block of East Broadway Avenue.

July 4: Three brush fires caused by fireworks were reported.

July 5: A porch fire in the 700 block of North Shamrock Road was caused by an improperly disposed of cigarette. A homeowner was illegally burning trash and furniture in his backyard in the 14000 block of East Fourth Avenue. A brush fire was reported in the 24000 block of East Wellesley.

July 7: A brush truck and the department’s communications trailer were sent to the Highland Fire in Stevens County. A resident backed their car into a gas meter in the 2700 block of South Vercler Road, causing a natural gas leak.

July 9: A crew was sent to assist Spokane County Fire District 8 with a brush fire in the 5800 block of East 27th Avenue.

By the numbers: Crews responded to 571 calls in the two weeks from June 26 to July 9, including 463 calls for emergency medical services. The calls included 31 car accidents, two calls from the Sheriff’s Office needing access to building roofs, a leak in a water tower, two water rescue calls in the Spokane city limits and one call involving a sick dog.