Roof cave-ins keep firefighters busy
Fresh additions of rain and wet snow have been fatal to several businesses roofs in Spokane Valley in the last week, keeping Valley Fire hopping from call to call. There have been so many that the department can’t keep track of them all.
No damage estimate is available for the collapses. “It’s going to be in the hundreds of thousands if not millions (in damage) to these buildings,” he said.
The roof of the old Spears Furniture Building fell in at 1300 N. Argonne Road on New Year’s Eve. “The part that collapsed was unoccupied,” Clifford said. “It’s very noticeable that it collapsed in.”
Other casualties include a three-car garage in the 3900 block of South Skipworth, the Dollar Store at Sprague and Sullivan, a carport in an apartment complex at 12623 E. Broadway Ave., a building at the Spokane County Fairgrounds and a porch awning at 205 S. Park Road. Firefighters had to cut away the debris that was trapping the homeowner inside, Clifford said.
The A-1 Illuminated Sign company had a severed natural gas line after its roof fell in on Dec. 29. “They had a total building collapse.”
The department’s inspectors have been kept busy checking out businesses with sagging roofs. The Fred Meyer at Sprague and Sullivan was shut down and evacuated the morning of Dec. 27 because of heavy snow. “They shoveled their roof and shored that up,” said Clifford.
This week Spokane Valley employees were struggling to clear off the roof of the Spokane Valley Police Precinct on East Sprague. “There was some indication in the building that there was significant weight on the building,” said Parks and Recreation director Mike Stone.
The snow must be shoveled by hand. Stone was able to get a Geiger work crew for one day, but expected to have to finish the job with city employees. Stone said he called numerous contractors to do the job, but the businesses were either booked solid or didn’t do that type of work.
On Wednesday Valley Fire recommended the evacuation and closure of the Value Village at Sprague and McDonald, as well as an attached Motion Auto Supply store. “We’re not sure it’s going to hold,” said fire inspector Rick Freier of the building’s roof. “My hunch is, we’ve got a little more time.”
Employees called the fire department after they noticed the roof was sagging. “The sprinkler heads are coming down out of the ceiling,” Freier said. “There’s some indication the roof is stressed.”
The fire department probably isn’t even hearing about all the roof collapses, he said. “Unless it’s a major business with an alarm system, we might not even get a call.”
Valley Fire had a total of 269 calls for the week ending mid-day Wednesday, including 165 for medical issues. Many calls had to do with weather issues, including six reports of downed power lines, several burst water pipes and 41 car accidents. The accidents were minor and only added up to five minor injuries, said Clifford. “It’s people not paying attention and hitting their brakes and sliding on the ice,” he said.
Several natural gas leaks were reported, most caused by falling snow. “When we get warmer temperatures, the snow and ice falls off the roofs and hits the gas meter,” he said. A snow plow also sheared off a gas meter in King’s Trailer Court on East First.
A natural gas leak was reported on the roof of Sears in the Valley Mall on Dec. 27 when ice shifted and hit a gas line. A heating unit on the roof of the mall caught fire shortly after closing on Dec. 30, but was quickly extinguished.
The department responded to a total of 14 fires during the week and most were minor. An attic fire caused $150,000 in damage to Greenacres Healthcare on East Appleway on Dec. 26. Valley Fire also assisted the city of Spokane with the three-alarm Empire Cold Storage fire on Tuesday and assisted District 10 with a large fire on Grove Road over the weekend.
On Tuesday night a 14-year-old girl walking through the Wal-Mart parking lot was hit by a semi truck making a turn. It’s unknown if the girl fell under the truck, was hit by the truck or was pinned against a snow bank by the truck, Clifford said. The girl had nonlife threatening injuries to her thighs and a hand and was conscious. “She’s pretty lucky,” Clifford said. “A few more inches and that would have been her abdomen.”
Perhaps the easiest call of the week was a woman in her car trapped inside a storage business on East 32nd. The gates to many storage businesses lock at a certain time every day and the security gates won’t open to let people out, Clifford said. “We respond because we have a key to the gates.”