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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Fire roundup: Broken pipe floods Spokane Valley apartment

Broken pipes haven’t been unusual in Spokane lately, but a recent incident in Spokane Valley causes a few headaches for some apartment residents.

Crews were called to a broken pipe in an apartment complex at 600 S. Woodruff Road at 3:30 a.m. on Jan. 6. Crews were able to shut down the water without a problem.

But the broken pipe in the sprinkler room of the same apartment complex in a different building at 1:30 that day caused problems. The water shutoff valve was in a vault buried under ice and snow, said Spokane Valley Fire Department spokeswoman Melanie Rose.

“It took quite a bit of work to dig through the snow,” Rose said.

Some apartments flooded and two people and two dogs were displaced, Rose said. The apartment manager moved them to a vacant apartment so they would have a place to stay, she said.

Other calls from Jan. 2-15

Jan. 7: A detached garage caught on fire in the 11600 block of East Buckeye. A car, travel trailer and tools inside the building were destroyed.

Jan. 8: An outdoor trash fire was reported in the 11600 block of East Sunview Circle. The resident was burning tree branches, paper and an unknown material. Trash and yard waste fires are illegal. The department has responded to the same address for the same type of call multiple times recently.

Jan. 8: A car that got stuck in a snow bank caught on fire in the 900 block of North Woodlawn Road. It was fully involved when firefighters arrived and the flames were close to overhead power lines and had spread to a nearby bush.

Jan. 10: A woman who lost control when she swerved to avoid a bumper in the road ended up nose first in the snow bank along the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 near Harvard Road. The car flipped on its top after it hit the snow but the driver was not seriously injured.

Jan. 12: Flames were reported coming from a chimney in the 14500 block of East 18th Avenue. Neighbors helped the resident out of his home and the fire did not spread to the wall. Firefighters also shoveled the berm in the man’s driveway and installed a smoke detector inside the home.

Jan. 13: A chimney fire was reported in the 11600 block of East Empire Avenue. The fire spread to the surrounding wall.

Jan. 15: A small shed used as a warming hut for a pregnant pig caught fire in the 5200 block of North Corrigan Road. The fire was started by a heating lamp.

A gas leak is believed to have started a car fire in the 6300 block of East Fourth Avenue.

By the numbers: Crews responded to 651 calls in the two weeks from Jan. 2-15, including 501 calls for emergency medical services. Other responses included 67 car crashes, two cars with children locked inside and one woman locked out of her house by her 2-year-old son.