Fire Damages Lincoln Building Blaze Started Monday Night In Offices On Second Floor; No Injuries Reported

A three-alarm fire Monday night swept through several offices inside the Lincoln Building at 818 W. Riverside, forcing the closure of several downtown streets.

Investigators were working to determine the cause of the blaze.

Spokane Fire Department Chief Bobby Williams said no injuries were reported.

The fire, reported at 10:30 p.m., started in offices housed on the second floor on the south side of the building. Williams said it spread across the hall into other offices, but he did not know how many.

“It appears we don’t have any fire extension beyond the initial area of where the fire was on both sides of the hallway,” Williams said.

Because the building had concrete floors, the fire did not break through to the third floor, Williams said.

The Lincoln Building only has sprinklers in the basement, he said.

Firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control relatively quickly. They were performing checks to determine if the fire had spread into the rest of the building.

At least 40 people gathered across from the eight-story building to watch the flames and mobilization of firefighters and equipment. Cars pulled to the side of the road, their passengers mesmerized by the blaze.

Charles Styles cleans the Lincoln Building at night with two other men. Watching the fire from across the street with his co-workers, Styles said he and one of the men were cleaning the eighth floor about 10 p.m. when they first smelled “something odd.” They checked several floors before finding smoke pouring from beneath a door on the second floor. Seconds later, the building’s fire alarm sounded.

One man called 911. All three were heading for the front door when several windows exploded on the second floor right above the main entrance.

“They always tell you to go out the front door,” Styles said. “It was scary.”

Marc Nelson, who manages an apartment building a few blocks away, said he heard a cacophony of sirens and hopped on his bicycle to investigate. He got to the scene just as smoke rolling from one window turned into shooting flames. Once that happened, flames erupted from a second window, then a third.

“It was five minutes total between the first and third window,” Nelson said.

For most of the night, the flames appeared to be contained to about three windows on the eastern end of the building’s south side, which was likely one office, Styles said. But smoke poured from adjoining windows.

Kristina Johnson can be reached at (509) 459-5312, or by e-mail at kristinaj@spokesman.com.