Firefighters put out South Hill apartment building fire caused by cooking

Firefighters extinguished a fire that damaged a portion of the second floor of a three-story apartment building Saturday on Spokane’s South Hill.

The Spokane Fire Department and Spokane County Fire District 8 were dispatched around 3:40 p.m. to the blaze in the 2200 block of South Southeast Boulevard, a city fire department news release said. The first companies found flames on the backside of the apartment building.

Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said the fire started on a balcony, broke the glass on a sliding door and continued into the second floor before firefighters stopped the blaze.

The fire was extinguished in 15 minutes, the release said. One person was treated by paramedics but was not taken to the hospital.

The firefighters’ efforts saved over $800,000 of property and contents, the release said. Cooking too close to combustibles on the apartment’s deck started the fire.