Cold weather contributes to increase in fire calls

Thu., Dec. 8, 2005

By Jody Lawrence-Turner jodyl@spokesman.com (509) 459-5593

Fast facts

Safety tips

Spokane Valley Fire Department Assistant Chief David Lobdell offered several safety tips for avoiding fires commonly associated with cold weather.

•Don't put space heaters too close to items that could catch fire.

•Don't overload extension cords, especially the inexpensive ones, because those type of extension cords are weak and can't handle a heavy amount of electricity.

•"With Christmas decorations, people are tempted to use an extension cord," Lobdell said. "The extension cords aren't pretty so people like to hide them, but putting it under a rug is dangerous."

•Light bulbs are not approved as a heating device for dog houses, Lobdell said. He's seen dog houses catch on fire, and in one case the dog house was next to the home and burned up the kitchen, too.

•Make sure chimneys are clean. If you have a free-burning fireplace, you should have it inspected annually. When you have a wood-burning insert, those should be checked multiple times during the winter.

Spokane Valley Fire Department’s calls were up by 10 percent between Nov. 29 and Monday compared to recent weeks.

Weather was blamed for the increase.

Firefighters responded to five fires, including a chimney fire, an illegal burn and two BMW engine fires, said David Lobdell, an assistant chief.

The most significant fire occurred on Sunday in the garage of a triplex at Sixth Avenue and University, Lobdell said.

A resident was using an arc welder in a garage to work on an all-terrain vehicle when he noticed something on the floor had caught fire, Lobdell said. He tried to put it out with an extinguisher, but when that failed he called for help.

Firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke and flames coming from the garage and carport, Lobdell said. The crew was able to contain the blaze to the area where it started.

No one was injured, but two all-terrain vehicles were destroyed, Lobdell said. The damage estimate was $50,000.

“We had our usual arcing power line, a broken sprinkler head and calls for kids locked in the car,” Lobdell said. “One was a case where three kids were locked in car that was in a garage. I guess the moral to the story is the children and the car keys should not be in the car at the same time unless the driver is also in there.”

Valley firefighters responded to 22 motor vehicle crashes, Lobdell said. Many of those were slide-offs, mostly on Interstate 90.

Overall, the department responded to 179 calls between Nov. 29 and Monday.

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