Storm to blame for fires

Even the high volume of emergencies reported in the days surrounding the Fourth of July had nothing on the number of incidents handled by the Spokane Valley Fire Department last week.

The July 13 storm was to blame for 19 of a whopping 35 structure fires reported to the department between July 10 and Monday.

“Most of those were due to arcing power lines or power lines down,” department spokesman Bill Clifford said, and not all resulted in significant damage.

At 3:13 p.m., July 13, power lines fell down between the back of homes near the 7500 block of East Baldwin Avenue, Clifford said. The live wires ignited brush, a fence and a home that residents were able to extinguish.

Three of 12 brush fires that Valley crews responded to that week also were caused by the storm, he said.

At 11 a.m. July 11, firefighters say two boys, aged 8 and 9, playing with fire started a grass and brush fire on the 5900 block of East Fourth Avenue. Clifford said the boys were required to attend a fire education program.

Crews responded to 15 fire alarms with most cased by malfunctioning equipment or burning food, Clifford said.

The number of vehicle accidents nearly doubled over the previous week, with 25 reported and six requiring transportation to a hospital by ambulance.

Two accidents on Trent Avenue resulted in serious injuries on July 12.

At the 25000 block, a motorcycle collided with a car and the rider was taken by helicopter to a hospital, Clifford said.

A head-on crash at the 6100 block involving a small Honda and a dump truck required that the driver be extricated from the vehicle, he said.

Firefighters handled 160 medical emergencies and also investigated two reports of hazardous materials.

There were two service calls to the department, including a report of a child alone in a car at the Oasis Tavern at 14913 E. Trent Ave. Clifford said that when firefighters arrived, the car’s owner ran out of the bar, got in the vehicle and drove away.

There were a total of 257 calls during the week.