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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Industrial fire kept minor

Spokane Valley Fire Department crews responded to a hopper fire at Spur Industries in the Spokane Valley Industrial Park on Nov. 22.

Spokane Valley Fire Department crews responded to only a few minor fires in the two weeks ending Wednesday. Community members reported a couple of chimney fires, two car fires and a small hydraulic fluid fire at Kaiser Aluminum.

The fire that drew the highest response was reported at Spur Industries in the Spokane Valley Industrial Park at 11 a.m. on Nov. 22. A metal shavings collection bag on the exterior of the building caught fire and was put out by firefighters using a foam mixture.

A pile of construction debris was ignited at a residential construction site in the Legacy Ridge development, said Assistant Fire Marshal Bill Clifford. Such fires are illegal. “We went up there and extinguished their fire for them,” Clifford said.

Crews responded to 389 calls total, and 305 of them were for emergency medical services. Members of the department’s water rescue team were on standby one day as police officers tried to talk a person out of jumping off the Argonne Bridge over the Spokane River. “It looks like deputies talked the person out of jumping,” Clifford said.

A car hit a natural gas meter in the 5900 block of East Trent Avenue on Nov. 18, and 31 car accidents were reported, a higher number than usual. Despite the high number, only four individuals involved were taken to the hospital, Clifford said. Two of the four were pedestrians hit by a car at University Road and 16th Avenue the afternoon of Nov. 23. “They had several injuries, including head injuries,” Clifford said.

Crews also freed two children who had been inadvertently locked inside cars.