Fire destroys family’s possessions

A late-afternoon fire blackened the inside of a small Spokane Valley house Tuesday.

Fire officials released few details about the blaze, which destroyed the possessions of a woman and her two daughters, and left one man with minor injuries.

Angela Jones lived in the house at 2609 N. Vista Road.

In a brief interview Tuesday, Jones said she had picked up her 9- and 5-year-old daughters from day care.

The family came home to find smoke pouring from the windows, Jones said.

The man, who Jones said is a neighbor, was sleeping inside the house and received second-degree burns on both arms.

The man, who was treated at the scene, was not identified Tuesday.

The fire blackened the inside of the home. Firefighters pulled out soggy insulation and a burned bed.

Jones said she had rented the green shingled house since October.

“Everything we owned is in that house,” she said.

Her two daughters, Sydney and Marissa, clutched stuffed animals and cried as they watched firefighters work on the house, which is near the Big R store on Trent Avenue in Spokane Valley.

Jones said she has no idea how she’ll replace what was lost in the fire and worried that her daughters won’t have school clothes.

The cause of the blaze remained under investigation, said Valley Fire Inspector Clifton Mehaffey.

He would not say whether the fire, first reported at 5:12 p.m., was considered suspicious.