Fire Press Release

South Battalion Warehouse Fire

Incident #: 2012008970
Date of Incident: 3/2/2012
Issuing Officer: Bob Green/Battalion Chief

Narrative:
The Spokane City Fire Dept. responded fire fighting crews and their apparatus to 207 N Crestline at 16:51 hrs on Friday afternoon, March 2nd, for a reported structure fire. The first arriving company Officer reported a large 1 story high metal sided warehouse with smoke showing from all corners and the roof. Additional reports from that Officer stated that the warehouse was heavily loaded with pallets of paper products and that some of those pallets were burning freely and embers spreading inside the structure were igniting more fires in the stored material. As additional resources began arriving on scene they were given assignments that focused directly on getting more hose lines into the building to attempt to halt the spread of the rapidly growing fire that was still being contained in the warehouse. A second alarm was requested to get additional resources to the scene since it was becoming obvious that the fire was not going to be controlled by the initial crews already on the scene. The amount of material stored in the building, the manner in which it was stored, the type of building it was stored in, and the unknown status of the building's structural members were just some of the factors used to make the decision to pull all firefighters out of the structure and shift from an aggressive offensive attack inside the structure to a defensive strategy where the fire would be fought from the exterior. Stored paper goods are notorious for absorbing the water being used to control the flames and becoming dangerously heavy as they absorb that water. As they get heavier they almost always begin to start to collapse triggering a chain reaction that is every bit as dangerous to the fire fighters inside as an actual building collapse. Once the situation began to stabilize inside the structure crews were judiciously used to enter the building and drive the 5 vehicles that were inside to the exterior parking lot. The main body of fire was finally darkened down after about three hours, but flare ups and smoldering fires would continue throughout the night so City Fire crews were to remain on scene until daylight. Members of the Spokane City Fire Dept. Special Investigation Unit were going to begin the task of trying to determine the cause of this fire on Saturday morning. A decision on the removal of the burnt and/or water saturated paper products in the warehouse as well as the status of the building itself will have to be determined by the business owners. A fire fighter was injured slightly at this fire with a twisted ankle, but other than that there were no additional reports of injuries to fire fighters or civilians. Seven Engines, three Senior Ladder Trucks, one Heavy Rescue Truck, and two Command vehicles delivered 37 fire fighters to the scene of this stubborn fire.

Cause:
Currently under investigation.

Damage:
Total loss of the stored contents inside the building. Possible damge to the structural integrity of the warehouse itself from the high temperatures that were reached as the fires burnt freely inside the building.

# Firefighters Responding: 37

Dollar Loss: $50,000.00

End Of Release
For more information on this release please call (509) 625-7002