In brief: Five residents displaced by fires

Fires early Friday in Spokane Valley and Hillyard displaced five residents, including a child, and killed a dog.

A tenant at 225 S. Adams Road in Spokane Valley fell asleep while smoking and started a mattress fire around 3:37 a.m., a Spokane Valley Fire Department news release said. Searching the apartment, firefighters found a dog dead from smoke inhalation.

A resident told firefighters he awoke to flames in his bedroom after hearing the smoke detector go off, the release said.

The two apartment residents are staying with family.

The other fire began around 7:30 a.m. in the basement of a one-story, wood-frame duplex at 2933 E. Central Ave., a Spokane Fire Department news release said.

One resident was taken to a local hospital by a neighbor after suffering a cut on the hand, the release said. The duplex was home to five residents, including one child, but two residents were able to return to their apartment later in the day, said Brian Schaeffer, assistant chief with Spokane Fire Department.

The other couple and their 4-year-old daughter were staying with relatives while the Red Cross provided food, clothing and a referral to Spokane Housing Authority to help them find another apartment.

The fire was caused by a portable heater, Schaeffer said.

Alison Boggs

Mega-load opponents ponder next step

MISSOULA – Foes of a plan to allow ConocoPhillips to ship oversized oil-refinery equipment from Idaho to Montana are expected to decide by next week whether to further press their opposition.

A hearing officer recommended Tuesday that the Idaho Transportation Department issue permits to allow the shipments. Opponents of the plan have until Jan. 11 to challenge that recommendation.

Linwood Laughy, one of the biggest critics of the plan to ship the giant loads along U.S. Highway 12, said, “In some respects it would be nice to get the four loads off the table so we could talk about the real issues” – the more than 200 mega-loads planned for shipment by Imperial Oil along the same route to the tar sands of northern Alberta.

The slow-moving loads would take up both lanes of the winding, two-lane highway. Foes argue they present a threat to tourism, public safety and convenience.

ITD director Brian Ness has taken the hearing examiner’s recommendation on the ConocoPhillips loads under advisement. There is no schedule for his decision on whether to allow the loads.

Associated Press