Man in critical condition after rescue from lower South Hill house fire

A Monday morning house fire on the lower South Hill left a man in critical condition.

Firefighters arrived four minutes after a 10:39 a.m. call to 817 S. Sherman Ave., according to Spokane Fire Department spokesman Justin De Ruyter. Fire from the first floor extended into the second story and attic of the duplex.

An unconscious man was found on the ground floor, De Ruyter said. The man was rescued out of a window and taken in critical condition to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center a few blocks away.

Firefighters had the fire under control in 20 minutes. Extensive damage left both residences in the duplex uninhabitable, De Ruyter said.

Neighbor Ogorinac Szamreta was alerted to the fire by the sound of an extremely loud explosion.

“Oh, my goodness. So many flames shooting up in the sky,” she said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, De Ruyter said.

“Smoke was visible when we arrived on the scene. The front of the house was scorched,” he said.

No one else was home at either residence when the fire began, he added.