Apartment fire ruled accidental

A fire that damaged an apartment in a converted house at Augusta and Lincoln Friday afternoon has been ruled accidental, said Spokane Fire Department Battalion Chief Craig Cornelius. The fire began on top of a stove in the kitchen of a first floor apartment. Firefighters were able to keep the flames from spreading into adjacent apartments. The building had suffered from a series of false alarms in the last month and many residents in the eight apartments did not evacuate when the alarm sounded. Firefighters rescued several residents and helped them outside. A man who was burned and suffered from smoke inhalation has been released from the hospital, Cornelius said. An estimate of what it will cost to repair the damage isn’t available yet, Cornelius said. “I know they had (electrical) wiring damage and some smoke damage,” he said.