Fire roundup: Spokane Valley firefighters arrive to find fire in doghouse
Firefighters with the Spokane Valley Fire Department respond to structure fires all the time, but the structure they were called to protect recently was a little unusual.
Crews arrived to the 22900 block of East Joseph Avenue on Feb. 3 to find a 3-foot high structure that housed an old agricultural well in one half and a doghouse in the other half, said department spokeswoman Melanie Rose.
“The dog door was too small for us to gain entry so we went through the roof,” she said.
Firefighters successfully put out the fire.
The snow indirectly caused a vehicle fire in the 1100 block of North Vista Road just before 5 a.m. on Feb. 4. The owner of a Dodge Neon said he was attempting to back out of his driveway in heavy snow when his car began smoking and then caught fire.
Other calls from Jan. 30 to Feb. 12
Feb. 2: A dumpster fire was reported in the 11400 block of East Montgomery Avenue. Video surveillance footage showed that no one set the fire. The cause is believed to have been related to lacquer dust put in the dumpster along with some cardboard.
Feb. 5: A chimney fire was reported in the 6100 block of East Desmet Avenue. Smoke was coming from an oil furnace, and there was no fire. Crews responded with Fire District 8 crews to a rollover crash in the 8000 block of South Highway 27. Three people were extricated from an SUV and taken to a local hospital.
Feb. 8: A 13-year-old boy suffered a broken leg when it was run over by a car in the 13100 block of East Saltese Road. The boy said he slipped and fell on the ice and his leg went into the street, where it was run over.
Feb. 9: Water was reported dripping into a bottom floor apartment in the 1800 block of North Hutchinson Road. Firefighters traced the leak to a third floor apartment, where the resident said he was having plumbing issues and had been trying to reach the apartment managers. Later that day crews were called to an overflowing canal near the 2300 block of South Meadowview Road. The basement of three homes flooded.
Feb. 10: An outside trash fire was reported in the 4300 block of North Canal Road. The homeowner had used heavy equipment to dig out a pit and was burning lumber and wooden pallets. The burning of trash and construction debris is illegal. A resident in the 13500 block of East Seventh Avenue called for advice on what to do with a deck roof that was sagging under the weight of snow and ice.
Feb. 11: An oven fire was reported in the 12400 block of East Mansfield Avenue. The resident reported leaving a kitchen towel inside the oven while baking.
By the numbers: Crews responded to 722 calls in the two weeks from Jan. 30 to Feb. 12, including 561 calls for emergency medical services. Other responses included 84 vehicle crashes that were mostly weather related fender-benders, a cooking fire, a malfunctioning furnace and a woman who hit her head on her steering wheel during a crash on Interstate -90.