Fires damage homes
Fourth of July festivities were just the beginning of the fireworks for Spokane Valley firefighters last week.
Between July 3 and Monday, 21 reports of structure fires came into the department, including three that extensively damaged homes.
At 7 p.m. on Independence Day a fire possibly started by a bathroom fan caused $50,000 in damage to a manufactured home at 8500 block of East Alki Avenue, said department spokesman Bill Clifford.
About 4:30 p.m. the next day, a fire in a manufactured home in the 1300 block of North Grady Road caused an estimated $30,000 in damage.
The most expensive fire caused $80,000 in damage to a house at the 7200 block of East Fifth Avenue at 6:40 p.m. July 8, Clifford said.
Additionally, at 6:36 p.m., July 7, a portabale restroom outside Chester Elementary burned to the ground.
“Obviously it was intentionally set,” Clifford said, but investigators do not have any suspects.
Crews also were busy putting out 15 brush fires, six of which they blamed on fireworks.
In the same week, firefighters also responded to four vehicle fires and a fire in a trash bin at Mountain View Middle School, Clifford said.
During one of four hazardous materials incidents, 100 gallons of fuel leaked Sunday from a tank in an unoccupied bus at a truck stop near Broadway Avenue and Interstate 90.
Sunday’s spill also required a Spokane Fire Department team to pump the fuel out of a drywell Clifford said. The Department of Ecology was notified.
Other emergencies included 14 vehicle accidents with six people taken to hospitals, 153 emergency medical calls and two service calls.
In one incident July 6, the firefighters were called to the Hastings store at Sprague Avenue and Sullivan Road where two children were locked in a car. Although the windows were cracked, and the engine was running with the air conditioning on, Clifford said firefighters had to page the car’s owner in the store. He advises parents never to lock children or pets in the car in the summer heat.
There were a total of 218 calls during the week.