A missing 2-year-old lovebird was feared dead after last week’s downtown apartment fire. Then the miracle came

By all accounts, Chatterbox was dead.

The 2-year-old lovebird was assumed to be the lone casualty stemming from an apartment fire that broke out on the sixth floor of the Coeur d’Alene Plaza building last week.

The ensuing response from the Spokane Fire Department and sprinkler system, as well as a burst water main, caused water damage throughout the building, displacing more than 60 residents of the low-income housing project and shuttering the businesses on the ground floor for days. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Spokane Fire spokesman Justin de Ruyter said.

Chatterbox’s owner, Judy LaShaw, arrived at the apartment building the Wednesday evening after it had been evacuated, and her attempts to have Chatterbox rescued were unsuccessful.

She said one firefighter told her they couldn’t find the bird when they went up to look, but LaShaw often kept the door to the bird’s 6- by 4-foot cage open so Chatterbox was free to flit around their second-story apartment.

LaShaw wondered: Had he escaped? Succumbed to smoke inhalation? Or was the bird somehow fatally injured by water damage following the fire?

Her concern only grew that night as she sat on a bus outside the building with her partner, Mike Handsome, for whom she provides live-in care. They were shuffled into the bus alongside their neighbors to get out of the cold as they waited to hear if they’d be able to return, or what may come next.

“We sat there for hours,” LaShaw said. “They were asking everyone what their plans would be; how can I answer that?”

All the while, Chatterbox was front of mind, she said.

She asked another firefighter to run up and grab Mike’s medical equipment, and check for Chatterbox. While there was still no sight of the bird, the firefighter grabbed a pair of large bowls, filled them with water and bird seed, and stashed them in the cage on his way out, LaShaw said.

That was the last update LaShaw received before going to a temporary shelter, and she spent the next few days holed up at her son’s house in State Line. As of Friday, she, Handsome and their neighbors were provided hotel rooms.

As hours turned into days away from the apartment, LaShaw was all but certain of Chatterbox’s untimely demise. She thought their stint as companions – which included more than a few moves, unsuccessful attempts to find a paired bird and the recent revelation Chatterbox had been female the entire time – had come to an end.

“I didn’t know who to turn to about it,” LaShaw said.

LaShaw called Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services to see if one of her neighbors had miraculously saved her, but Chatterbox wasn’t there. They offered to go look for Chatterbox in the apartment, but told LaShaw it likely wouldn’t be good news if they did find the bird, she said. Days without power had caused indoor temperatures to plummet.

“They said, ‘There’s no way he would have survived as long as he was in there,’ as cold as it was, with no heat or anything,” LaShaw said.

Assuming the worst, Handsome eventually made the journey from their cramped hotel room in Spokane Valley, prepared to do the hard work of laying Chatterbox to rest so LaShaw wouldn’t have to.

Chatterbox was in her cage when Handsome arrived, lying on her side. Handsome moved the bird to a smaller transport cage, but there was still no indication of life. Dejected, he loaded up to head back to the Valley.

“I thought he was frozen,” Handsome said. “Then I hear his little chirp from the seat next to me.”

Against all odds, Chatterbox survived nearly four days alone in the empty apartment.

She was unable to stand when Handsome arrived, had picked out a few of her feathers from stress and hardly touched the seed left by the kind-hearted firefighter. But she survived, much to Handsome and LaShaw’s surprise.

Within a few hours of arriving back at the motel, Chatterbox was on the mend, LaShaw said.

“He wouldn’t eat or anything, and he was having trouble standing even on one foot,” LaShaw said. “But he’s on both of them now. He’s out flying around today, so I think he’ll be OK.”

Chatterbox isn’t LaShaw’s first bird, but she has had a noticeable impact on her life. While she doesn’t always live up to her species name, occasionally being a bit standoffish, she’s always a good source of company and entertainment. That’s been much needed in her life, LaShaw said, especially lately.

“He’s a character, and he’s coming back to his old self,” Handsome said, as Chatterbox flitted around their hotel room Wednesday morning.

“That makes me happy,” LaShaw added. “Because for a long time I was living alone, and it’s hard not to come home to some kind of chatter noise or something. I just had to put my dog down three months ago, too.”

LaShaw, Handsome, Chatterbox and their pug, Chevy, are all holed up in their motel room for the foreseeable future, amid what belongings and food they were able to grab from the apartment Monday when management allowed residents to retrieve them.

LaShaw said their apartment was not as affected by the water as they had expected, but the smell of smoke still lingered in the building. They could return to live in their apartment relatively soon, but LaShaw worries Handsome may not always be able to make it up the stairs in light of the broken elevator.

While a spokesman for the building’s property management company, Redwood Communities, said they are still assessing all of the damages, texts from the company to residents obtained by The Spokesman-Review indicate it may be three months before everyone is able to return.

The elevator that many of the elderly residents with health struggles rely on to reach the upper floors is inoperable and likely won’t be fixed before then.

“All residents from the building have been provided with accommodations, and our team is in constant contact with them to ensure they have access to things they might need at the property,” said the spokesman, Reed Dunn.

Between the smoke and the steps, LaShaw is uncertain whether Handsome could live in the apartment with his asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

He may need to stay at the motel for a while, she said, and they might not ever be able to return.

But for now, LaShaw is grateful to have the family back together, and to see Chatterbox on the mend.

“He’s had quite the adventure,” LaShaw said, before turning to Chatterbox’s perch on her bedside table. “Now you better stop chewing on your feathers before you’re bald again.”