Five homes damaged by blazes

A rash of New Year’s house fires broke out in the Spokane area Friday and Saturday.

Five homes caught fire, three in Spokane and two in Spokane Valley. In cases where residents were home, everyone made it out alive, according to Bruce Moline of the Spokane Fire Department. At one of the homes, firefighters were hosing down the living room shortly after midnight when revelers returned home.

The first fire started at 728 E. Nebraska Ave. shortly after 5 a.m. Friday. Neighbors spotted heavy flames rolling out the back of the building. The fire started in the kitchen and there was severe damage throughout the home, though no one was injured.

A second fire started shortly before noon Friday at 5303 N. Oak Road. Heavy black smoke rolling out the home’s front door caught a neighbor’s eye at 11:30 a.m. No one was home when the fire started. Investigators believe that newspapers left too close to a fireplace ignited and flames spread to a stuffed chair. A couple living at the home discovered not only smoke, but also their fire alarm shrieking as they returned.

Five minutes after midnight Saturday, a third fire ignited at 2424 W. Crown Ave. Neighbors spotted smoke rolling out the 1 1/2 story home’s front door. A man, woman and three children living at the house were not home when the fire started, Moline said, but the family’s dog and cat were.

Firefighters managed to save the cat as they hosed down the home’s entryway and living room. The dog was found at a neighbor’s home. The cause of the fire was being investigated. Moline said the family arrived home while the fire was being fought. They are now staying with relatives.

In Spokane Valley, heavy smoke was spotted at 1 a.m. Saturday from a fourth fire at 7006 E. Ninth Ave. Residents were home, though no one was injured. Investigators believe the fire erupted in the home’s attic. Firefighters knocked the fire down within 20 minutes, but the flames returned shortly after 2:30 a.m.

And a fifth fire in a Spokane Valley garage broke out at about 3 p.m. after a car combusted and flames spread inside a shop at 108 N. Greenacres Road. No one was injured in the fire, which was quickly put out by Valley firefighters.