Firefighters respond to vehicle fire, 12 crashes

Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to 145 calls between Jan. 10 and 16, which was about 40 fewer calls than in previous weeks.

Crews were called out for two fires, said David Lobdell, an assistant fire chief. The first was extinguished before the department’s arrival. The second was a vehicle fire.

Firefighters were asked to assist the Washington State Patrol on Jan. 10 after a 1994 Mitsubishi Eclipse apparently hit a concrete abutment at Freya Street and Interstate 90, rupturing the gas tank, Lobdell said. The fuel ignited the inside of the vehicle, which was engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived about 2:34 a.m. The driver fled.

The department responded to 12 motor vehicle crashes during the weeklong time period, but only three resulted in a patient being taken to a hospital, Lobdell said. Valley Fire went out on seven fire alarms and eight good intent calls, “which was a variety of people mistaking what they saw as a fire, or people thought there was a crash, but there was nothing there when we arrived.”

Early Monday, firefighters had to shut off three fire hydrants, Lobdell said. Someone managed to open up the hydrants, perhaps using a wrench, and sent the water gushing on 10th Avenue between Pierce and Union and at 16th Avenue and McDonald.

The department also responded to eight service calls, such as downed power lines or children locked in vehicles, and 108 emergency medical calls, Lobdell said.