In brief: Fire in mattress injures resident

A mattress that caught fire about 10 p.m. Friday injured a Spokane man and caused smoke damage to his home, according to the Spokane Fire Department.

When firefighters arrived at 3918 N. Washington St., they discovered smoke coming out of the upper floor of the house and a burned mattress on the ground outside.

Although the flames were restricted to the mattress, crews still had to set up an exhaust fan at the doorway to help remove the toxic smoke and by-products that often come with mattress fires. They also had to treat a male resident who suffered burns as he struggled to take the burning mattress outside, according to officials. The victim was taken by ambulance to Holy Family Hospital, where he received additional treatment for his injuries.

The fire was apparently caused by an overturned candle, according to the Spokane Fire Department.

Candles are a fire hazard, officials stressed. They must be constantly monitored and placed in containers that will not tip over and ignite other combustibles in the home.

Twenty-two firefighters responded to Friday night’s incident. Damage was estimated at about $2,000.

Adams County

Man seriously hurt in rollover

A man was critically injured Saturday morning in a rollover crash caused by a tire malfunction in southern Adams County, the Washington State Patrol reported.

Marcelino Ruiz, 56, was a passenger in a 1983 Ford pickup on U.S. Highway 395 when a rear tire tread separated from the tire about 6:45 a.m., WSP said. The northbound truck swerved and rolled into the southbound lane a few miles north of state Highway 26.

Ruiz, who lives in Walla Walla, was flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, where he was listed in critical condition Saturday evening.

The pickup was driven by Tomas Solis Luna, 32, of Milton-Freewater, Ore., the WSP said. He was not injured.

Another passenger, Domingo Martinez, 49, of College Place, Wash, was injured and taken to East Adams Rural Hospital in Ritzville, the WSP said. A nurse declined to give his condition Saturday evening.

EUGENE, Ore.

Timber payments extension cut

The U.S. Senate cut a multiyear extension of county timber payments from an energy bill that passed Friday, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said.

But he said he believes the extension will pass eventually.

“We are going to stay at this until we get a multiyear agreement so our rural communities have enough time to make a transition,” he said.

Counties that rely heavily on the payments for much of their budgets won a temporary reprieve with recent federal approval of a one-year payment for the coming fiscal year.

But the counties will have to make major cuts or find new revenue after that if the payments are not extended.

The program started in 2000 and has compensated counties for federal timberland that can’t be taxed and for county shares of timber revenues from trees that can no longer be cut under federal regulations.

Wyden is seeking 80 percent of the money under extended payments that the counties received over the past five years. Last week he got a Senate committee to include the aid in an energy bill, but the full Senate cut it.

He said Senate and House lawmakers say they are committed to the program and that the White House, which once opposed it, is indicating support.