Fire destroys Ponderosa area home

Nineteen structure fires kept Spokane Valley firefighters busy in the seven days that ended Wednesday.

There were 274 calls of all types in that period.

A home owned by Reg and Sandi Hulbert at 9626 E. Holman Road in the Ponderosa area was destroyed Wednesday morning. A day later, the cause hadn’t been determined but the loss was estimated at $275,000.

Among the other more serious structure fires, a mobile home was destroyed Jan. 24 at 26415 E. Trent Ave. The Spokane Valley Fire Department assisted Newman Lake-area Fire District 13 in fighting the fire, the cause of which wasn’t immediately known.

Also on Jan. 24, the manager’s office at the Red Top Motel, 7217 E. Trent Ave., sustained an estimated $25,000 damage in a fire that was blamed on an electrical problem.

Sawdust insulation in the ceiling “was burning pretty good,” Inspector Bill Clifford said.

His safety tip of the week springs from a fire Wednesday in which residents cleaned out a fireplace and left the ashes inside their home in a combustible container. The smoldering ash burned into the subfloor.

Clifford said it’s a good idea to take ashes outside in a container that won’t burn.

Other calls included a vehicle fire that caused minor damage.

Spokane Valley firefighters responded to 14 alarm system calls, all minor or false. In two cases, the alarms were triggered by frozen water pipes that broke.

Five of six calls for general service also involved frozen pipes, Clifford said.

He said there were 181 emergency medical calls and one “technical rescue” that was performed by neighbors before firefighters arrived.

A woman suffered minor injuries when a canopy collapsed on her while she was clearing snow from it. Neighbors pulled her out from under the structure.

Forty-one of 51 vehicle accidents were weather related. In many cases, vehicles simply slid off the road, Clifford said. Four people were transported to hospitals with minor injuries.

Clifford said the department has had a number of inquiries from people who wanted to know whether they should shovel snow from their roofs. He recommends hiring a professional because of the risk of falling.

Property owners should worry most about buildings with flat roofs, Clifford said. Watch for sags and leaks.

Citing Wednesday’s Ponderosa-area house fire, Clifford renewed a plea for residents to clear snow in a one-yard radius around fire hydrants. He said firefighters couldn’t find the hydrant nearest the fire, but a neighbor directed them to it before truck tanks were emptied.

Spokane Valley firetrucks carry 500 to 750 gallons of water, “and that goes pretty quickly,” Clifford said.

“We have good hydrants in our district,” he said, “but if we can’t find them, they’re not worth anything.”