Man escapes fire in his ceiling

A man made a lucky escape when he awoke to find fire and smoke in his manufactured home last week.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department was called to the 18700 block of East Jackson Drive just before 5:30 a.m. March 11 after the resident called to report a fire in the ceiling next to his wood stove pipe, department spokeswoman Melanie Rose said.

The damage was estimated at $5,000. The man is lucky that he happened to wake up, Rose said.

“He did not have any working smoke detectors, but he does now,” she said. “We installed them before we left.”

Other calls from March 7-13

March 7: An illegal fire was reported in the 12100 block of East Valleyway Avenue. A man told firefighters he was burning debris from a shed he had just torn down. He was informed the fire was illegal and it was put out.

March 9: A fire was reported in the breakroom of a business at 1730 N. Madson St. just before 11 p.m. The building was evacuated. Firefighters saw smoke and discovered that a vending machine was arcing.

March 10: A bathroom ceiling fan fire was reported in the 14700 block of East Wellesley Avenue.

March 11: A man in a wheelchair received minor injuries when he was hit by a car going at a low speed in the 400 block of South Adams Road. He was not knocked over.

March 13: Firefighters responded to the 13600 block of East 16th Avenue for a carbon monoxide detector activation. The alarm was for something else and no carbon monoxide was detected.

By the numbers: Crews responded to 326 calls from March 7-13, including 261 calls for emergency medical services. Other responses included 27 car crashes, a gasoline spill at a gas station and a woman who needed assistance climbing her stairs after a doctor’s appointment.