Spokane apartments damaged in fire

A fire Sunday afternoon damaged several units of an apartment house at 1608 E. Mission Ave. in Spokane.

The fire began at 2:50 p.m. on the second floor of a 10-unit building in the River Ridge Apartments.

Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams said the cause is unknown, but building owner Steve Grubb speculated that a fan being used to dry building materials may have been to blame.

No one was injured, but at least three apartments were damaged by the fire, and several other units may have water and smoke damage. Nine families were displaced by the fire.

Rachel Olson huddled in blankets on the sidewalk Sunday and watched as firefighters threw smoldering debris from her apartment window, next door to the unit where the fire started.

She and other neighbors said they didn’t know where they would spend the night. “All I had time to grab was my daughter,” Olson said.