Fire blamed on ex-resident

A woman who lives at a Hillyard home significantly damaged by fire early Friday says the blaze was likely set by a man who was just kicked out.

The Spokane Fire Department said in a news release that the fire was “possibly suspicious in nature.”

Sharon Darby lives at the home across from Kehoe Park, at 4918 N. Nelson St., with her son. She said that on Thursday she told another man who had been living there that he had to leave. During the day she packed his belongings and put them in his car. Darby said that about 3 a.m. the man told her son through a window: “I’m going to burn down your home.”

Not long after the threat, her son heard some noises and discovered a large fire at the back of the home, Darby said.

Darby, her son and her grandson’s girlfriend were inside and escaped, though her son kept going back to rescue items, and he eventually escaped from the roof. The news release said firefighters helped him off the roof with a ladder.

The fire appeared to start in the back of the home, where there were two couches and a mattress on a deck, family members said. Flames spread up the back of the home into the attic.

The fire department estimated the damage at $25,000.

Darby said she has lived in the home, which is owned by her sister, for about six years and has no renter’s insurance. She said six cats survived the fire, but one is missing.

“I’m really just sick of Spokane,” Darby said. “People are really heinous.”