Wildfire forces home evacuations
More firefighters are expected to arrive today to battle a wildfire that has burned an estimated 200 acres and prompted evacuations from homes.
No homes had burned but at least 35 were threatened, authorities reported Friday night.
Nearly 50 firefighters were on the scene Friday, with seven airplanes and two helicopters dropping retardant and water, said Gary Weber with the Coeur d’Alene Interagency Dispatch Center.
Smoke could be seen from Coeur d’Alene, 30 miles to the north. Strong winds fanned the flames late in the afternoon but had died by 7 p.m.
The fire is in the heavily timbered Shay Hill area, about six miles west of St. Maries, where it was burning timber and logging slash on private land. It was reported at 3:10 p.m. Friday and grew to 100 acres within two hours, officials said.
The Benewah County Sheriff’s Department ordered the evacuation of several homes. Deputies went door-to-door to alert residents, and evacuees were directed to elementary and high school gyms in St. Maries.
The National Weather Service issued a red-flag fire warning for much of the Inland Northwest because of the extreme risk of wildfire, because of stiff winds, low humidity and high heat.
– Staff reports
Coeur d’Alene
Police criticize witnesses’ behavior
Police say people on a lake cruise hampered an investigation of a possible drowning Thursday night.
The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Department responded about 9:30 p.m. to a person overboard on the north end of Lake Coeur d’Alene.
The cruise, with about 300 people, was for Spokane radio station 92.9 KZZU, according to sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Higgins.
“One of the bartenders heard a big splash and saw something white in the water,” Higgins said.
Three fire boats and three sheriff’s patrol boats searched, Higgins said. Six divers also were called out but never got in the water.
Many people on the boat were intoxicated and “belligerent,” Higgins said. They refused to answer questions and wouldn’t cooperate during a head count.
“Hopefully it was a chair or some other item that went off the boat and it wasn’t a person,” Higgins said.
– Taryn Brodwater
Spokane
Man charged after death threats at store
Police arrested a man who said he had a gun and would kill everybody at a clothing store on North Division Street.
File P. Janew, 50, allegedly got into an argument Friday with employees at Outback Steakhouse then went next door to Plato’s Closet, where witnesses said he made the threat. Police responded about 5:10 p.m. to a hold-up alarm at the store, said Spokane police Officer Teresa Fuller.
He moved to the adjacent Burlington Coat Factory, from which authorities evacuated shoppers to a nearby RiteAid Pharmacy, Fuller said. A Bed Bath & Beyond store also was evacuated and the steakhouse went on lockdown.
By 5:50 p.m., police had arrested Janew without incident outside Burlington Coat Factory, Fuller said. No gun was found, and nobody was injured.
Janew faces five felony charges of harassment threat to kill, Fuller said.
– Nick Eaton