Separate fires scorch Valley area
A 170-acre wildfire north of Spokane Valley destroyed one structure and blackened a hillside before it was contained Saturday afternoon.
Crews are expected to remain at the site of the Fruithill fire for four to five days, said Department of Natural Resources Fire Information Officer Steve Harris.
Fruithill Road between East Upriver Drive and North Lehman Road will be closed to non-residents throughout portions of today, he said.
Investigators haven’t determined the cause of the fire.
It started Saturday morning near the intersection of East Fruithill Road and East Upriver Drive. The fire quickly tore up a hill of dry grass before entering a wooded area, threatening homes nestled within the trees.
“I got here at 9 a.m. and it was already going,” said Pam Mercer, an employee at Arbor Crest Winery, located at the top of the hill. Its buildings and small vineyard of grapes for champagne were spared.
Mercer said the winery’s owner tried battling the grass fire with an old fire truck, one that winery Marketing Manager Joe Algeo described as a 1940s- or 1950s-era truck.
It wasn’t enough to stop the flames.
Firefighters from several agencies fought the blaze on the ground, assisted by a tanker plane and helicopter from the air.
Nobody was injured. One unoccupied guest house was destroyed in the blaze, which reached the edge of many homes, including the one occupied by John Babinski’s father.
Babinski said he arrived between 9:30 and 10 a.m. to help his father protect his smoke-engulfed home from the approaching flames. The blaze leveled his father’s guest house that was being used to store exercise equipment, tools and other items, he said.
Other than the heat that melted a garbage can near the main house and broke windows in the garage, the main house wasn’t damaged. The fire raced around both sides of the structure, he said.
For some, the fire wasn’t a danger, but it was still a nuisance.
At least one wedding at the winery had to be rescheduled because emergency crews closed the road, Mercer said.
The ceremony was moved to Mirabeau Park Hotel and Convention Center, where the bride and groom had planned to hold the reception anyway, Mercer said.