Hillyard hit with another garage fire over the weekend

Spokane firefighters responded to another garage fire in Hillyard this weekend.

Firefighters were called at about 7:15 p.m. Saturday to 3714 E. Princeton Ave., where they found a garage and shop area producing heavy smoke and fire, firefighters said in a news release. Crews spent about an hour controlling the fire in the 20-by-30-foot structure.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. It’s estimated to have caused about $20,000 in damage.

On Oct. 7, and again on Oct. 9, firefighters responded to garage fires in the Hillyard neighborhood. One of the fires on Oct. 9 spread to a home, heavily damaging it and displacing a family of three.

After the first round of fires two weeks ago, Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said the random acts of arson appeared unrelated to each other.

Still, he urged residents to thwart future arson by removing combustibles from alleyways or from plain sight and installing lights with automatic motion detectors.