Fire roundup: Driver headed to mechanic watches his 4-Runner burn
A man was able to save himself from his burning vehicle the morning of Dec. 9, but his truck was a total loss.
The man was driving his Toyota 4-Runner in the area of Pines Road and Trent Avenue. He was having mechanical issues and losing power, said Spokane Valley Fire Department Fire Marshal Kevin Miller.
“The driver next to him was waving frantically at him and he looked and saw flames,” Miller said. “He pulled over and watched it burn to the ground.”
The driver apparently was bringing the car to an auto mechanic to have it looked at, Miller said.
Four people were saved from carbon monoxide poising thanks to a carbon monoxide detector in their home in the 14800 block of East Wellesley Avenue on Dec. 9.
“One of the residents started getting a headache and then the CO detector went off,” Miller said.
A malfunctioning furnace had caused the release of the odorless, tasteless gas.
Other calls from Dec. 8-14
Dec. 10: Firefighters were unable to free a woman stuck in an elevator at the Valley YMCA and had to wait for an elevator repairman to arrive. The woman was trapped for about 30 minutes.
Dec. 11: A wall heater caught fire in a home in the 12500 block of East Valleyway Avenue.
An overloaded electrical outlet caught fire in the 112700 block of East 31st Avenue.
Residents in the 9700 block of East Rockwell Avenue reported smelling gas. Their back porch barbecue had blown over in the wind and was leaking.
Dec. 12: Two pickup trucks collided at Sprague Avenue and Argonne Road just after 10 p.m., sending one of the trucks down an embankment and into a bank building. Both drivers were taken to a hospital for treatment and one was arrested for driving under the influence.
By the numbers: Crews responded to 262 calls from Dec. 8-14, including 219 for emergency medical services. Other calls included an illegal fire, 18 car accidents and a group of young people in the 3000 block of South Pines Road who set off a carbon monoxide detector after smoking a hookah.