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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

House fire injures man squatting in vacant northwest Spokane home

A man was seriously injured in a house fire started by squatters at an abandoned northwest Spokane home Monday morning.

The fire started just before 7:30 a.m. after squatters at 1728 W. Cleveland tried to refill a kerosene stove, fire Batallion Chief Dave Haworth said.

The stove caught fire, causing serious burns on one man’s face and arms, Haworth said. The man was transported to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and then flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Assistant Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said arson investigators likely will visit the man at Harborview this week.

Haworth said a total of five squatters were in the house when the fire started, but none of the others were injured. The fire was mostly confined to the basement, he said.

Leticia Power-Drutis, the head of the neighborhood block watch group, said cameras in the area had shown residents of the vacant house stealing from neighbors. Many also used drugs, she said.

A group of neighbors confronted the squatters and told them to leave the house recently, Power-Drutis said.

“We told them they weren’t welcome,” she said.

She said the home had been vacant for at least two years.

Firefighters had the fire extinguished around 8:15 a.m., Haworth said, and no firefighters were injured. A total of 24 firefighters on seven trucks responded.