House fire blamed on faulty wiring
A fire likely sparked by an electrical problem caused heavy smoke damage to the upstairs of a South Hill home Friday.
Spokane Fire Department crews arrived at 3137 E. 34th Ave. about 3:55 p.m. and found a wood-frame home with heavy smoke coming from the roof, Assistant Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said.
It took 30 minutes for the 27 firefighters to control the fire, which appears to have been started by a wiring problem in an area of the upstairs used as a play area for children, according to the Fire Department. Only one person was home at the time of the blaze, and he escaped safely. No injuries were reported.
Schaeffer estimated damages to be $40,000.
Shoshone County
Trooper finds missing driver, 72
An Idaho State Police trooper located a missing 72-year-old woman Thursday night as she drove west on Interstate 90 near Cataldo, Idaho.
Elizabeth Huggins was reported missing Tuesday after her husband, in a separate car, lost sight of her near Kellogg.
The couple had driven to Spokane from San Antonio but decided they didn’t want to move here and were driving back to Texas when they became separated.
“A citizen called her in as a possible DUI,” said ISP Sgt. Rick Field. “I followed her for a bit and she was driving all over the road. It took about two and a half miles before she pulled over and then she stopped in the middle of the road.”
The woman was not under the influence and was surprised to hear she had been reported missing. Huggins had driven as far as Sheridan, Wyo., before turning around to return to Spokane.
Kootenai County
Alcohol a factor in two-car crash
Alcohol was involved in the two-car crash that injured four people Thursday evening and shut down U.S. Highway 95 north of Athol for several hours, said Idaho State Police Cpl. Charlie Greear.
Debi A. Grantham, 53, of Sandpoint, was driving south when she crossed the centerline and struck a northbound pickup driven by 82-year-old Clyde Brown, of Oak Creek, Wis., according to the Idaho State Police.
“Both drivers admitted to consuming some alcohol,” Greear said. “We know they were drinking. We don’t know how much.”
Grantham and her husband, 56-year-old Dale R. Grantham, were transported to Kootenai Medical Center. Brown was taken to Bonner General Hospital and his wife, Shirley D. Brown, 80, was taken to Kootenai Medical Center.
SEATTLE
Shooting suspect waives extradition
A 21-year-old man accused of fatally shooting a teenager at a shopping mall in Tukwila, Wash., has waived extradition and will be returned from Oregon to King County.
Barry Lee Saunders is charged with murder and assault. The shooting at the Westfield Southcenter mall last Saturday left one teen dead and a second wounded.
Saunders was arrested Wednesday after police investigating a call about possible drug activity questioned him in a Portland hotel parking lot.
TILLAMOOK, Ore.
Coast Guard suspends search
The Coast Guard suspended its search Friday afternoon for two men missing after a 42-foot crab boat capsized near the north jetty at Tillamook Bay earlier in the day.
The U.S. Coast Guard said the captain, Darrin Mobley, 43, of Bay City, swam to the rocks and was picked up by the Coast Guard and fire crews from Rockaway Beach and Garibaldi.
The Coast Guard initially said he was the only one of the three with a life jacket but later said none of the three had one.
The missing crewmen have been identified as George Shaw, 55, of Sequim, Wash., and Timothy Leake, 44, of Tillamook. A Coast Guard helicopter and at least two boats searched a 15-square-mile area for seven hours.