Man buried up to thighs in cave-in

Spokane Valley firefighters were called Tuesday to help a man who wound up planted in the ground “just like a tree.”

Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Clifford said the 43-year-old man was buried up to his thighs while standing in an excavation that caved in on him.

The victim, “who probably shouldn’t have been in the ditch,” told firefighters he was OK except for pain in his right knee, Clifford said. He had been freed by the time firefighters arrived, and the property manager later drove him to a hospital for examination.

Clifford said the man was a friend of the property manager at the Bavarian Villas apartments at 12903 E. Sprague Ave. The victim reportedly was assisting a contractor who was digging a trench with a backhoe when the accident occurred shortly before noon.

The incident was reported to the state Department of Labor and Industries, which enforces excavation safety rules.

Another of the department’s 195 calls in the seven days ending Wednesday was to send an investigator to a fatal car fire in Stevens County.

A woman, whose identity hadn’t been confirmed, was found dead Friday afternoon in a parked car outside a Barstow-area home north of Kettle Falls, Wash. Officials believe she may have fallen asleep while smoking and waiting for a friend to arrive.

One of a dozen structure fires in the weekly report was an arson. Firefighters were called about 12:15 p.m. on Thanksgiving to extinguish a fire in construction materials inside the partially built River Rock Apartments at 12721 E. Shannon Ave.

Clifford asked anyone with information about the fire to call 928-1700.

Everyone knows sprinklers can limit fire damage until firefighters arrive, but it turns out that ordinary plumbing also can help. Clifford said a ruptured water heater supply line is believed to have helped suppress a fire Wednesday afternoon.

An intense utility room fire in a duplex at 2320 N. Marguerite Road burned through the water line, pouring water onto the fire.

“I think that’s twice that’s happened this year,” Clifford said.

In another residential fire earlier this year, a bathroom fire melted a soldered joint in a water line.

Even with the accidental sprinkler, Wednesday’s fire caused an estimated $70,000 to $80,000 in damage.

Clifford said one side of the duplex had extensive fire damage, and both sides had smoke and water damage.

He said the fire was caused by clothing too close to a gas furnace.

Firefighters turned out Thanksgiving morning for a downed power line in the 100 block of North Bowdish Road. There was no storm, but Clifford said power lines sometimes are snagged by trucks when they droop below their minimum required height of 13 1/2 feet.

A day later, firefighters found a property owner burning debris from a demolished shed at 4809 E. Sixth Ave. That’s not allowed, so firefighters doused the fire and asked the resident – who had a backhoe handy – to smother the site with dirt.

Three hazardous-materials calls included an incident Wednesday morning in which occupants of a mobile home at 11522 E. Jackson Ave. backed a vehicle into their gas meter.

The collision broke the gas line above the meter valve, allowing firefighters to close the valve and stop the leak.

Two other hazmat calls on the evening of Nov. 28 – 17 minutes and less than a mile apart – are believed to have been related. People reported smelling natural gas at 2800 N. Pines Road and then at 11502 E. Empire Way.

Clifford said firefighters also smelled the odor, but couldn’t find a source when they cruised the area.

He noted both of the locations where the odor was reported are near the railroad tracks that bisect the area. Train tank cars sometimes vent natural gas or propane to relieve pressure, Clifford said.

Avista was notified of the calls.

Also in the seven days ending Wednesday, firefighters responded to 17 vehicle accidents in which six people suffered minor to moderate injuries.

In addition, there were 148 medical emergencies and 10 alarm-system calls involving nothing more serious than burned food.