Valley medical call turns into confrontation

A call to help a woman having a seizure Monday took a turn when an intoxicated man reportedly assaulted one of the paramedics treating her.

A Spokane Valley Fire Department crew from Station 1 responded to the 9500 block of East Fourth Avenue to help the woman. “The male occupant, for some reason, decided he didn’t want our guys touching her,” said assistant fire marshal Bill Clifford.

The man grabbed the paramedic, who pushed him away, Clifford said. “They called law enforcement,” Clifford said. “The firefighters were not injured. We do what we can to protect ourselves. We were trying to protect the patient and protect the crew.”

The man was arrested for third-degree assault and the woman was taken to the hospital for treatment.

A Dumpster behind the Pasadena Park Church of the Nazarene on Upriver Drive was destroyed by fire for the third time shortly after 1 a.m. Monday. The Dumpsters cost $1,200 to replace, Clifford said.

The fires that have been set are not small. “It’s consuming the contents inside and warping the metal and burning the plastic lids off them,” he said. The repeated fires are under investigation.

Firefighters were called to several suspected fires that turned out to be nothing. “People are still a little skittish about the dry weather that we had,” Clifford said. “They’re calling in smoke from chimneys now. We did respond to a few of those.”

A malfunctioning ceiling fan in a home in the 3000 block of South Clinton Road started a small fire Tuesday that was quickly contained. “Fortunately the people were home and caught it,” Clifford said. “It could have been much worse.”

A small brush fire was reported behind the Valley YMCA at 2:13 a.m. Monday. It may have been started by a campfire, Clifford said.

Crews responded to 230 calls the week of Oct. 18-24 and 181 of them were for medical services. The calls included a car battery leaking acid, spilled latex paint and 17 car accidents that sent five people to the hospital.