Boy burned playing with fire

A man stuck on a ladder, a teenager who accidentally burned his legs, and floaters who fell into the chilly Spokane River kept Spokane Valley Fire Department crews busy the week of June 10-16.

Over the weekend people floating down the river fell in near the Harvard Road Bridge, said Spokane Valley Fire administrative Capt. Jeff Bordwell. “By the time we got there they had pulled themselves out of the water,” he said.

Bordwell cautioned people about being on the river this early in the season even when the weather is warm. “It’s running quite high right now,” he said. “It’s very dangerous.”

Also this week a man fell off a ladder and got his foot caught in the ladder as he fell. “A neighbor found him,” he said. “He couldn’t get himself out. He was in relatively good shape when they got him into a position where he could get his foot out.”

Bordwell said a boy who was about 12 or 13 years old burned his legs while playing around with gasoline on his back deck. He admitted to lighting a small fire then trying to stamp out the fire with his foot. “Just by accident he tipped over the gas can,” said Bordwell, which caused the fire to flare up around him.

The boy had second-degree burns up to his knees. “It took his synthetic shorts and burned them right off,” he said. Burns are one of the most painful injuries and take a lot of time to heal. “He thought he was going to play Hoopfest in two weeks. We don’t think so.”

Firefighters responded to 165 EMS calls during the week and 15 vehicle accidents. One of those gave an ATV rider a broken collarbone. “Luckily he had a helmet on,” Bordwell said. There were also several illegal fires and car fires.