Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said early Tuesday that he has ordered an end to fighting with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Over the course of two hours Friday morning, 19 Spokane firefighters fought a house fire so large, Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said it was “significantly” visible from Interstate 90 as he approached.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department recently responded to a barn fire recently in the 4100 block of Murray Road that resulted in the total loss of the building.

Indonesian authorities raised the danger level for the volatile Mount Merapi volcano on the densely populated island of Java on Thursday and ordered a halt to tourism and mining activities.

Sonic Youth is arguably the greatest rock guitar band of all time. The uncompromising avant-garde quartet recorded a plethora of mesmerizing guitar jams during its 30-year career. Thurston Moore was half of the guitar tandem of the defunct band. Moore, 61, recently released "By the Fire," his fourth solo album since the demise of Sonic Youth.

Spokane Valley International Association of Firefighters Local 876 has been handing out new winter coats to Spokane Valley elementary students for four years as part of the national nonprofit Operation Warm. Firefighter Scott Niebuhr started the program in the Spokane Valley Fire Department in 2017.

The Spokane Valley Fire Department saw a large volume of calls the week of Oct. 19-25, which were pushed up by the 100 calls that came in during the 24-hour shift that began 8 a.m. Oct. 23, the day record-breaking amounts of snowfall led to other things –like tree branches –breaking.

Calmer weather on Wednesday helped firefighters beat back two wildfires that drove nearly 100,000 Southern Californians from their homes amid fierce winds and extremely dry conditions.

Fighting over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh raged on Tuesday, unimpeded by a U.S.-brokered cease-fire, while Armenia and Azerbaijan traded blame for the deal's quick unraveling.

Local fire departments, including the Spokane Valley Fire Department, on Monday lifted the burn ban that has been in effect for weeks due to the reduced risk of fire. That means people can again roast marshmallows over backyard fires and make s’mores. Burning trash, yard waste and construction debris, however, continues to be illegal.

After wildfires spread through Washington in late summer, restrictions for outdoor recreational fires are set to be lifted Tuesday morning. Burn bans have been in effect since July 20.

After a two-year gap, the Spokane Valley Fire Department has welcomed a new chaplain to the ranks, the Rev. Aaron McNally. McNally, an experienced chaplain, also has the distinction of being a volunteer firefighter.

Death and injury tolls rose Tuesday as fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces raged for a third week over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, and the United States urged both sides to adhere to a cease-fire reached over the weekend.

Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday accused each other of attacks over the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh despite a cease-fire deal brokered by Russia to try to end the worst outbreak of hostilities in the region in decades.

Russia moved to stop the worst escalation of fighting in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh in more than a quarter-century by hosting cease-fire talks on Friday.

Two people were injured in an apartment fire battled by crews from the Spokane Valley Fire Department on Sept. 28 and a teenage girl was arrested at the scene by Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputies on suspicion that she set the fire.