Vehicle compartment fire consumes newspaper delivery woman’s car
Cars played a pivotal role in two calls to the Spokane Valley Fire Department last week, when one was destroyed and the other unaccounted for.
A woman called the fire department from the 9500 block of East Mission Avenue shortly before 3 a.m. April 13 to report her car was on fire. The woman, who was delivering newspapers, reported she smelled smoke and saw sparks coming from one of her stereo speakers before the fire broke out, said department spokeswoman Melanie Rose.
“When we got there the passenger compartment was fully involved,” she said.
The woman reported that the stereo system in her 2010 Suzuki had stopped working about a month ago, then had started working sporadically a week before. The car was destroyed.
“It was so badly burned that they were unable to get the VIN number off the car,” Rose said.
The second call involving a car was in the 10100 block of East Upriver Drive just before 3 p.m. April 12. A crew arrived to find that a power pole had been sheared off at the base, and the pole was lying across the road. The car that hit the pole, however, was nowhere to been seen, Rose said.
Other calls April 10-16
April 12: Water rescue crews assisted the Spokane Fire Department as they rescued a person who jumped off the Monroe Street bridge and survived.
April 13: A fire in a chicken coop was reported just after 2 p.m. in the 12900 block of East Rockwell Avenue. Neighbors were able to put the fire out with a garden hose and a fire extinguisher. An elderly woman in the 4900 block of East Eighth Avenue reported her baby was locked in a bedroom. The baby was determined to be an 8-pound Chihuahua. Firefighters disassembled the doorknob and rescued her baby.
April 15: Crews were called to a parking lot at 15224 E. Indiana Ave. Witnesses said a woman was hit by a car, got up, got in her own car and drove away before crews arrived.
April 16: A passerby noticed a shed on fire in the 3000 block of North Edgerton Road just before 1 a.m. and woke the homeowner after calling 911. The shed, which housed goats, burned to the ground. No goats were injured.
By the numbers: Crews responded to 272 calls from April 10-16, including 220 calls for emergency medical services. Additional responses included 16 car crashes, seven illegal outdoor trash/yard waste fires, a leaking propane tank and an elevator distress alarm from a building in the Industrial Park at 3808 N. Sullivan Road that turned out to be completely empty.