Refuse at Valley waste station catches fire

Spokane Valley Fire Department crews went on a semi-regular call to the Spokane Valley Transfer Station off Sullivan Road recently.

A fire was reported in a pile of refuse around 1:45 p.m. on March 10. “I’m sure chemicals got intermixed and caught on fire,” said Assistant Fire Marshal Bill Clifford. “As their loaders were pulling apart the fire, our guys were spraying it down.”

The department typically responds to similar calls at the facility four or five times a year, Clifford said. “You have to treat it as a (hazardous materials) because you never know what’s in there,” he said.

Other calls from March 9-15:

March 10: The owner of a semi-truck called to report that the truck’s driver had left it locked and running at 16702 E. Euclid Ave. The driver had been taken to a local hospital to be treated for a medical issue. The owner requested that crews get into the truck and turn it off.

March 11: Fuel was reported to be leaking from a gas tank at 1233 N. Liberty Lake Road around 5:25 p.m.

March 13: An illegal camp fire was reported behind an apartment building at 2820 N. Cherry St. just after 6:30 p.m.

March 14: An illegal camp fire was reported behind an apartment building at 2820 N. Cherry St. just after 10 a.m.

March 15: A broken water line hooked up to a dishwasher flooded an apartment at 223 S. Sullivan Road.

By the numbers: Crews responded to 285 calls from March 9-15, including 229 emergency medical services calls. Responses included eight illegal trash fires, 16 car accidents and a fire that turned out to be a legal recreational fire.