Fire Roundup: Valley man suffers serious injuries in house fire

A man received life threatening injuries in a fire in a home behind the Taste of India restaurant on Sprague Avenue in Spokane Valley last month.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to the fire at 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 23, said Fire Marshal Kevin Miller. The man was able to get himself out of the house, but not before breathing in a lot of smoke.

“Somehow he woke up,” Miller said of the man’s escape from the burning home. “We found him in the front yard.”

The man’s condition was upgraded within a couple days of the fire, Miller said. Faulty electrical wiring was determined to be the cause of the blaze.

No cause has been determined in a fire that burned a manufactured home in the 19200 block of East Buckeye Avenue at 2 a.m. on Nov. 18. The fire started in the bedroom while the homeowners were out of town, Miller said.

“We couldn’t figure out what caused it, but nothing looked suspicious,” Miller said.

Other calls from Nov. 17-23.

Nov. 17: A burned up compressor caused smoke inside the Sunshine Gardens assisted living facility on East Ninth Avenue. A failed electrical outlet started a wall on fire in a home in the 11400 block of East 24th Avenue.

Nov. 18: A chimney fire was reported in the 2000 block of North Center.

Nov. 19: Food left on the stove caused enough smoke in the 12300 block of East Main Avenue that the fire department was notified. Firefighters forced open the door and put out the fire.

Combustibles left too close to a fireplace started a fire in the 3300 block of South Sommer Road. Two residents were able to evacuate safety.

Nov. 20: A 15-year-old boy set fire to a toilet paper roll in a boy’s bathroom at West Valley High School. The student has been suspended.

Nov. 21: Neighbors reported seeing water flowing out the front door of a vacant home in the 11300 block of East 31st. A pipe had burst and firefighters climbed in through a window to turn off the water.

Nov. 22: Smoke coming from an overloaded microwave prompted a fire department response in the 6000 block of North Ormond.

By the numbers: The department responded to 294 calls from Nov. 17-23, including 221 calls for emergency medical services. Responses included 24 car accidents, a report of a natural gas smell that turned out to be a propane torch, an illegal outside fire and a car down an embankment in Spokane County Fire District 8.