Man dies when fire destroys mobile home
A 29-year-old man died early Saturday in a mobile home fire, Stevens County officials confirmed Monday.
Crews from Stevens County Fire District 4 were called to 2998 Wright Valley Road about 3 a.m., said Fire Chief Tim Van Doren.
The victim was Christopher R. Stratton, said Stevens County Coroner Patti Hancock. An autopsy, which was performed in Spokane on Monday, found that he died from fire-related causes.
The structure was fully involved when firefighters arrived, Van Doren said. Stratton, who rented the mobile home, died in the living room.
– Jonathan Brunt
Bridgeport, Wash.
Head-on collision kills drivers on Route 173
Drivers in two vehicles died Monday afternoon after a head-on collision on state Route 173 between Brewster and Bridgeport.
An unknown number of passengers were in the cars, which erupted in flames after the 4:30 accident, according to Lt. Mike Warren, a patrol spokesman.
The passengers were taken to hospitals, Warren said. Officers were still at the scene late Monday, and no other information was available.
– Melissa Pamer
Airway Heights
Crews protect homes from out-of-control fire
A 3-acre fire burned out of control for more than 30 minutes Monday afternoon on rugged terrain northeast of Airway Heights.
Three homes near the intersection of North Old Trails Road and West Newkirk Road were threatened, but firefighters kept a 100-foot barrier between the blaze and the structures, said Chief Nick Scharff of Spokane County Fire District 10.
The blaze erupted just 50 feet from a fire that burned 2 acres Sunday and was extinguished by the state Department of Natural Resources.
“It’s suspicious,” Scharff said.
DNR firefighters were on the scene Monday, checking on that earlier fire, and went to work on the new blaze, Scharff said. Crews also arrived from Fairchild Air Force Base and the Airway Heights Fire Department.
– Melissa Pamer
Spokane
Man linked to crimes gets 17 months in prison
A man linked to an 18-hour-crime spree in November 2005 was sentenced Monday to serve 17 months in prison.
Andrey Y. Fedin, 19, who was arrested in 2005 and has already served a year, will spend an additional five months in prison under the sentence handed down by Superior Court Judge Ellen Kalama Clark.
Fedin pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery, kidnapping and first-degree criminal trespassing, and agreed to testify against co-defendant Lance Karunaratne, 27. That proved unnecessary, and Karunaratne received a 25 1/2-year sentence from Judge Sam Cozza on Friday.
According to court records, Fedin and Christopher F. Olofson were with Karunaratne when he stole four vehicles – one at knifepoint – and rammed an unmarked Washington State Patrol vehicle, pushing it about 75 feet. Trooper Jim Hill fired gunshots as three men approached his vehicle.
Karunaratne admitted to The Spokesman-Review in 2005 that he was driving the stolen Jeep Cherokee but claimed he didn’t know he had rammed the police car.
– Thomas Clouse