Spokane Valley fire roundup: ‘Bucket brigade’ douses molten metal fire at Kaiser
A call at the Kaiser Aluminum plant in Spokane Valley early one morning last week led to hours of effort by Spokane Valley Fire Department crews to put out a fire caused by molten metal.
Crews were called to the plant in the 15000 block of East Euclid Avenue at 4:50 a.m. on Feb. 16 to find heavy fire under one of the remelt furnaces, said department spokeswoman Melanie Rose. Firefighters could not use water to put out the fire because it “doesn’t mix well” with will molten aluminum, she said.
Kaiser had 55-gallon drums of metal extinguishing powder on hand, and crews dumped the powder on the fire, one 5-gallon bucket at a time. “We had a bucket brigade operation,” Rose said.
They went through 15 of the 55-gallon drums before bringing the fire under control around 7:30 a.m.
“It was quite an effort,” Rose said.
Other calls from Feb. 13-19
Feb. 13: A caller reported smoke and flames coming from a ceiling vent inside a building at 12410 E. Mirabeau Parkway just before 6:30 a.m. No fire was found, but crews found a broken light fixture.
Feb. 14: A dump truck was reported on fire in the 4000 block of South Molter Road. The engine compartment and passenger area burned. An 11-year-old boy received minor injuries when he was hit by a slow-moving car in a parking lot at 14760 E. Indiana Ave.
Feb. 15: Crews extricated two drivers involved in a collision on 32nd Avenue just west of Highway 27. One of the cars had crossed the center line and hit the other head-on. Both drivers were taken to the hospital.
Feb. 16: A resident in the 14200 block of East Springfield Avenue reported a strong “sewer” odor. Arriving crews found a septic tank pumping truck across the street from the caller’s home, where it was pumping out a septic tank.
Feb. 17: A resident in the 5700 block of South Mohawk Drive called for help in dealing with a stream of water running though her yard and into her home. Crews grabbed shovels and diverted the water by digging a channel and building small dams of dirt and gravel.
Feb. 18: Crews responded to a flash fire in a cooking hood at the Red Robin restaurant, 14736 E. Indiana Ave. The hood’s suppression system put the fire out and it did not spread. A kitchen fire damaged a home in the 1500 block of North University Road at 2:40 a.m., but a resident and two dogs were safely removed from the home. The fire started near a toaster on the kitchen counter.
By the numbers: Crews responded to 301 calls from Feb. 13-19, including 250 for emergency medical services. Other responses included an illegal construction debris fire and a child locked inside a vehicle.