Car fire receives two emergency responses

The Spokane Valley Fire Department had to make two trips during one of the 441 calls it handled between March 6 and Wednesday.

Inspector Bill Clifford said firefighters used foam to douse a car fire in the 10600 block of East Trent Avenue on March 13. The fire burned the engine and passenger compartments, but no one was hurt.

Later, though, firefighters were called back to the scene when someone spotted some of the foam and thought it might be a hazardous material.

There was a more legitimate hazardous-materials call on the same day when a forklift severed a natural gas line inside a building at 6815 E. Mission Ave. The line went to a ceiling-mounted heater.

Again, no one was injured. Clifford said firefighters turned off the gas until the line could be repaired.

Throughout the two-week period, the department responded to 441 calls. Those included 371 medical emergencies and 15 structure fires.

Clifford said the fires involved a couple of downed electrical lines and a minor clothes dryer fire. He urged residents not to leave their homes while clothes dryers are running, and to clean their dryer’s lint traps.

He said another good idea, based on recent fire calls, is to check with the Spokane Regional Clean Air Authority, 477-4727, before burning yard waste.

Firefighters responded to six illegal trash fires, Clifford said.

He said burning is banned in some areas and requires a state Department of Natural Resources permit in areas where open burning is allowed.

Only yard waste may be burned, not construction debris or garbage, Clifford added.

In other calls, Clifford said, firefighters responded to 19 vehicle accidents, including one March 14 on State Route 27, near 18th Avenue, in which an 82-year-old man was killed. He said a T-bone crash Wednesday happened in front of Valley Hospital, where victims were treated for injuries ranging from minor to critical.

Three calls for general service involved police requests for assistance. In one case, Clifford said, firefighters gave hygienic advice on dealing with two people who had been living with 14 dogs in a room at the Red Top Motel.

Clifford urged residents to remember to change smoke detector batteries whenever they adjust their clocks between daylight-saving and standard time.