Firefighters respond to several vehicle fires

Spokane Valley firefighters responded to a two-for-one vehicle fire and 227 other calls in the seven days that ended Wednesday.

Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Clifford said two vehicles, parked side by side in a driveway in the 9600 block of East Valleyway Avenue were destroyed May 9 when one of them caught fire. The cause remained under investigation Thursday.

Clifford said there were three other car fires, and one of those also destroyed a vehicle.

For the second week in a row, firefighters responded to an illegal garbage fire in a wood stove in a condominium at 221 S. Liberty Lake Road. Liberty Lake police and Spokane County sheriff’s deputies have investigated other issues at the home.

Among other illegal fires, Clifford said firefighters doused abandoned campfires in wooded areas in the 2800 block of North Mirabeau Parkway last Saturday and in the 12700 block of East Shannon Avenue on Wednesday.

Two of the 14 structure fires in the period also involved unauthorized outdoor burning, Clifford said.

He said the structure fires also involved a couple of downed power lines and a plastic cigarette-butt container that burned next to a home at 11211 E. Fourth Ave. on May 8. Use metal buckets instead of plastic, Clifford advised.

Eleven alarm-system calls all were false or minor.

Clifford said a restaurant grease-disposal truck was suspected when firefighters went to the 6600 block of East Broadway Avenue about 10:15 a.m. Wednesday for what was classified as a hazardous-materials call. Cars were sliding through a 150-foot-long section of grease-slickened roadway.

Spokane Valley police monitored traffic during the cleanup, and there were no accidents, Clifford said.

Two other hazardous-materials calls involved propane odors that were gone when firefighters arrived.

There were 22 vehicle accidents, in which nine people went to hospitals with moderate to serious injuries, Clifford said.

Three calls for general service involved two minor water problems and a cat crying to be released from a garage. The owner had been hospitalized.

Clifford said firefighters lacked authority to break into the home under the circumstances, but a Spokane Regional Animal Protection Service officer went to the hospital and got the owner’s keys.