In brief: Fire Department says stove to blame for house fire

A home in northeast Spokane was heavily damaged early Sunday after a stove that was accidentally left on started a fire, the Spokane Fire Department reported in a news release.

Crews were called to 404 E. Rockwell Ave. at 3:30 a.m. When they arrived, firefighters verified that the woman who lives at the home, Lorene Villarreal, already had escaped along with one dog. Another dog that was inside was rescued, the Fire Department said.

The fire was extinguished in about 20 minutes, but the kitchen and rear of the home, which was built in 1943, sustained extensive damage, the Fire Department said.

Eldon W. Brown, who owns the home, said Villarreal, who is his girlfriend, discovered the blaze when she entered the kitchen to make coffee. The home did not have a smoke alarm.

Brown, principal engineer of developer services for the city of Spokane, said the home is insured.

Jonathan Brunt

crashes in field near airport

A small plane crashed Sunday evening in a field near the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport, Lewiston police reported in a news release.

The pilot, Gerald Bradley, 65, of Breckenridge, Colo., was uninjured, police said.

Bradley was planning to fly to Spokane with three other planes when the group decided to land in Lewiston because of bad weather, police said.

Bradley lost power to his 1979 Piper single-engine plane on approach to the airport and landed on its wheels in a field northwest of the Bryden Canyon Golf Course about 5:50 p.m.

The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the crash, police said.

Jonathan Brunt