Fire damages vacant Spokane Valley house

Smoke was pouring from the eaves of a vacant house on East Fourth Avenue Friday afternoon when firefighters arrived in response to a call from a neighbor.

“The crews got in pretty quick,” said Spokane Valley Fire Battalion Chief Wayne Howerton. “Some of it was in the walls and we had to work to get it.”

The fire started downstairs in the home at 12802 E. Fourth Ave. and had traveled upstairs by the time firefighters arrived. It doesn’t appear that anyone was living there and neighbors told firefighters that the owner had been there earlier in the day to paint the house, Howerton said. The man had to borrow power from a neighbor to do the project. “The gas and power were shut off,” Howerton said.

The Spokane County Assessor’s Office lists Wade Feider as the owner of the 1906 home.

Five fire engines and 25 firefighters responded to the fire. The damage to the house was extensive and the cause was under investigation.