Woman found dead in Perry District house fire

Firefighters discovered an elderly woman and a dog dead Thursday morning inside a burning home in Spokane’s Perry District neighborhood.

Deputy Fire Chief Mark John said neighbors were knocking on the door of the 724 S. Ivory St. home, near the corner of Ivory and Eighth Avenue, as firefighters arrived around 7 a.m.

There were few flames, but heavy smoke was escaping from the attic and eave line of the house.

The fire apparently started in the rear of the home and had burned for quite some time before it was reported and firefighters arrived. John said it burned through the floor and into parts of the basement.

“It was more a smoldering fire,” he said. “Enough to burn a large portion of the floor.”

There were no working smoke detectors in the home. The fire district said in a news release after the incident that houses should have at least one alarm on every level of the home and an alarm outside every sleeping area and inside every bedroom.

Investigators will work to determine how the fire started.

Ivory Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues was closed for several hours. Parts of Newark Avenue were closed for about an hour but reopened around 8:30 a.m. as some crews left the scene.