Two injured when semi-trailer rolls off jacks

Spokane Valley firefighters and medics responded to 213 calls in the seven days that ended Wednesday, including one in which a semi-trailer fell on two men.

The men were working under a car-hauling trailer at the Broadway Truck Stop, 6606 E. Broadway Ave., on Feb. 14 when the trailer rolled off the jacks that were supporting it.

Authorities said John Miller Jr. and Anthony Shane Homer were severely injured. Homer was in satisfactory condition late this week at Deaconess Medical Center, but no further information was available on Miller.

Inspector Bill Clifford said Spokane Valley firefighters responded to 20 other vehicle accidents, but none of those caused life-threatening injuries.

Among 10 structure fires, a house at 11303 E. Jackson Ave., may have sustained more than $75,000 in damage Wednesday. The fire was blamed on an attempt to extinguish a cigarette in a potted plant.

Potting soil, which is a combustible mulch, doesn’t make a good ashtray, Clifford advised.

His other safety tip for the week is that spent charcoal and fireplace ashes should be placed in a metal container other than a Dumpster. Firefighters responded to a Dumpster fire Tuesday at 12721 E. Shannon Ave. that was caused by a garbage bag full of used barbecue briquettes.

Other calls included 11 alarm system activations, mostly false or caused by overcooked food, 168 emergency medical calls and two calls for general service.

One of the service calls involved a man whose wheelchair was stuck in snow; the other, a woman who accidentally locked her child and her keys inside her car.