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

Fire in vacant building labeled arson


Firefighter Bill Dodd hops off a truck while cleaning up after a large, wood-framed apartment building burned in downtown Coeur d'Alene early Friday morning. Investigators said arson caused the blaze. The structure was empty and scheduled for demolition.Firefighter Bill Dodd hops off a truck while cleaning up after a large, wood-framed apartment building burned in downtown Coeur d'Alene early Friday morning. Investigators said arson caused the blaze. The structure was empty and scheduled for demolition.
 (Jesse Tinsley/Jesse Tinsley/ / The Spokesman-Review)

A vacant fourplex scheduled for demolition caught fire early Friday morning, and city and state fire inspectors say it was caused by arson.

“We found multiple ignition points,” Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Deputy Chief Dan Cochran said Friday afternoon, rain spilling from the bill of his helmet. “All the services – electricity and gas – had been disconnected. We even checked to see if there were any lightning strikes near here in the last 24 hours.”

The old apartment building at the corner of Second and Garden, just a block east of the county courthouse, was in the early stages of demolition. Garages and outbuildings have already been torn down. Cement-asbestos siding on an adjoining building to the east has been removed, Cochran said.

The owners recently approached the fire department and offered the structures for use as intentional training burns, Cochran said. But the department had concerns about asbestos and said the owners must first explore that issue with federal regulators.

In fact, Cochran said, all firefighters who were inside the structure will have to have their gear decontaminated and themselves checked, because inspection teams did encounter asbestos inside.

The fire was reported at 4:42 a.m. Friday, and flames were visible in every window when firefighters arrived, Cochran said. After an initial check to make sure no one was inside, firefighters let the two-story apartments burn, Cochran said. Firefighters sprayed water on neighboring structures to keep flames from spreading.

Under Friday afternoon’s sporadic rain showers, firefighters continued to examine the cause of the fire. Coeur d’Alene police also are involved in the investigation.

Anyone with information about the blaze is asked to call police at (208) 769-2291 and ask for Detective Todd Hedge.