Airborne fireball a mystery

Spokane Valley firefighters want to know more about a nighttime UFO that dropped fireballs onto the Costco parking lot.

Witnesses reported seeing two fireballs fall from the sky about 6:40 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Costco store at 5601 E. Sprague Ave., but investigators theorize that both came from the same airborne device.

Deputy Fire Marshal Bill Clifford said firefighters found a charred aluminum beverage can that had been cut open on one side to form a sort of “canoe.”

He said investigators speculate that the can was suspended horizontally, like a gondola, from a helium-filled balloon. Remnants of wadded paper towels or cloth were found stuck to the container.

The burning material and a pool of flammable liquid may have fallen in two pieces when fire caused the device to break apart, Clifford said.

Although it was raining when the fireballs fell, they could have injured someone or ignited a fire on the ground. A wildfire could have been sparked if the device had drifted over timberland in dry weather, Clifford said.

He said the charred can is being held as evidence, but any fingerprints probably were burned away.

Not surprisingly, it’s illegal to launch such a flying firebomb. The likely charge would be reckless burning.

“We would sure like to hear from somebody if they have any information about it,” Clifford said.

The number to call is 928-1700.

The UFO incident was among 418 calls to which the Spokane Valley Fire Department responded in a two-week period ending Wednesday.

There were 13 structure fires, including one about 7 p.m. Nov. 4 that caused an estimated $40,000 damage to a garage at 1209 S. Galway Road. Electrical wiring on a pickup’s engine heater was responsible.

Faulty wiring also was blamed for an attic fire the next evening at 7309 E. Sinto Ave. Clifford said that fire caused about $20,000 worth of damage.

Another fire broke out Wednesday afternoon in bedroom of a house at 10505 E. 14th Ave., causing an estimated $30,000 in damage. The residents were away at the time, and the cause was under investigation.

No one was injured in any of the house fires.

A half-dozen “brush-type” fires included an illegal effort to dispose of fallen leaves on Nov. 2 at a home in the 1000 block of North McDonald Road. Firefighters doused the fire and “educated the homeowner,” Clifford said.

Hazardous-materials calls also numbered six, but one of them was a whopper.

Spokane Valley firefighters and a Spokane Fire Department hazardous-materials team worked to prevent a flash fire Nov. 3 when thousands of gallons of gasoline spilled from an ExxonMobil storage tank at 6311 E. Sharp Ave.

Clifford said firefighters smothered the fuel with foam until contractors could vacuum it up.

Another hazmat call, shortly before 9 a.m. Oct. 30, was for a natural gas leak in the R-Factor building at the Spokane Industrial Park.

Clifford said the insulation-products building was evacuated when a forklift broke a supply line on a gas heater. Crews repaired the damage without incident.

Other hazardous-materials calls included a leaky gas meter at a house.

Thirty vehicle accidents sent 10 people to hospitals with moderate to severe injuries. Clifford said firefighters expected to have to extricate people from mangled vehicles in two cases, but the victims had freed themselves when firefighters arrived.

Other calls included four minor vehicle fires, 330 medical emergencies, 16 false or minor automatic alarms, two downed power lines and nine requests for general assistance.

Two of the assistance calls were from police who needed ladders, three were from parents with small children accidentally locked inside vehicles and one was for a broken water main.

An Orchard Avenue Irrigation District line cracked on Nov. 9, causing water to seep from the ground at 8303 E. Liberty Ave.