Fire Probe Will Take Time

Thu., Jan. 6, 2000

By Trinity Hartman trinityh@spokesman.com

In the upcoming months, fire investigators and insurance companies will log hundreds of hours investigating the Dec. 28 fire at Opportunity Center.

The four-alarm blaze is the worst retail fire Pat Humphries has seen in his five years as Valley fire chief.

The cause of the fire, which gutted the Harbor Freight Tools store and damaged all other occupants of the strip mall at Sprague and Pines, is still under investigation by Spokane Valley Fire District.

The fire was believed to have started inside Harbor Freight Tools, near the back of the store.

At this point, physical evidence doesn’t lead fire investigators to suspect arson, Humphries said. But they have not completely ruled that out, he added.

A sprinkler system inside Harbor Freight Tools wasn’t working at the time of the fire because the water pipe that supplied the system had accidentally broken the day before.

Space heaters being used to dry out the store are one possible cause that investigators are looking at, Humphries said.

Total dollar value of the fire damage won’t be known for months, according to store managers and Opportunity Center representatives.

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