Family of six homeless after house fire near U.S. Highway 195

A house fire south of Spokane quickly spread to nearby brush, forcing the temporary closure of the southbound lanes of U.S. Highway 195 early Friday afternoon.

The fire burned the home at 618 E. Washington Road near U.S. 195.

“We arrived on scene to find a fully involved house,” Spokane County Fire District 3 Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach said. “At that time we ensured all the occupants were out of the house, and we also noticed the fire started to extend to the wildland.”

The fire, fanned by light winds, jumped the highway, forcing the temporary closure of the southbound lanes. But firefighters were prepared for that, Rohrbach said.

“We had resources pre-positioned,” he said.

Tawnya Nanny lives across the street from the home that burned. She said the home went up in flames very fast.

“I just saw the smoke coming out of the roof,” she said.

Four people, including two infants, and a dog named Spotty were alerted to the fire by smoke detectors, Nanny said. They all made it out of the home uninjured, but one resident fled so fast that he didn’t have time to grab his wallet or shoes.

“They lost everything,” she said. “It was that fast.”

Reached by phone Friday evening, one of the family members, Branko Pesich, said the family was shaken but grateful that no one had been hurt. “We’re in disarray,” he said.

He added that the difficulty of moving forward will be compounded because they are only recently arrived in the region.

Nanny said she has taken in the family of six while they struggle to figure out what’s next. “I don’t know how a family of six is going to fit, but we’re going to be doing it for a while,” she said.

The residents heard a pop just before the fire and believe there may have been an electrical problem, Nanny said.

The home burned to the ground, except for a small portion of one corner. That corner survived because there was a propane tank right next to the house and firefighters were dumping large amounts of water on the tank to keep it from exploding, Rohrbach said. Two vehicles also burned to their frames.

The home had a green lawn on the east side that kept the flames from spreading in that direction, Rohrbach said. But the south and west sides of the home had no green space and the fire spread quickly in long, dry grass.

Even though temperatures are cooler the fire danger has not passed, Rohrbach said. Humidity is still very low, and fuels – trees and grasses – are still extremely dry. It will take significant, extended rainfall before the fire danger lessens, he said.

“We still have conditions that are conducive to very large wildland fires,” he said.