Weather drives fire calls

Calls for fire service have been up in recent days, with the winter weather likely driving an increase in car accidents and flooding due to broken pipes.

Between Nov. 28 and Monday, 26 automobile accidents kept fire personnel busy. A vehicle that flipped on its side at 2 a.m. Saturday on the 6000 block of North Campbell Road required extrication of a person, said Valley Fire spokesman Bill Clifford. That incident and five other crashes resulted in ambulance trips, Clifford said.

There were five reports of structure fires in that time period. An early morning fire in a garage at the 2600 block of South Dishman-Mica Road Friday caused upward of $10,000 in damage, Clifford said.

Firefighters also put out one brush fire after a warming fire under a tree spread over a 6-square-foot area at the 16800 block of East Mission, he said.

Other activity at the department included 131 calls for emergency medical service, three hazardous materials calls and a car fire.

Of the three service calls the department received, two involved broken water lines. Frozen pipes also were the culprit in some of the 27 fire alarms the department received, Clifford said.

Last week, Valley Fire personnel also helped fire officials in Pend Oreille County investigate an incident at 9 a.m. Nov. 28.

The investigation involved a body found in a burned car on Skookum Meadow Road near Newport, Clifford said.

The investigation into the death and the fire are ongoing.