Fire Press Release

ISSUING OFFICER: Battalion Chief Bob Green
DATE OF INCIDENT: 1/17/2007
INCIDENT TYPE: Structure Fire
INCIDENT ADDRESS: 3402 E Garnet Ave.
CITY: Spokane
STATE: Wa
ZIP: 99207

NARRATIVE: The Spokane City Fire Dept. dispatched fire crews to 3402 E Garnet Ave. at 7:27 the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 17th, 2007. Fire crews responding to the scene reported seeing arching electrical wires visible in the night sky from blocks away as they were rapidly approaching the area. Once on scene, the first officer to arrive reported that a split-level 2 story wood/frame dwelling was involved with fire at the rear of the house. The residence had a fiberglass paneled roof over the wooden deck which extended off the 2nd level of the house at the rear through sliders from the kitchen. That deck and the roof over it were heavily involved with fire as the first hose leads were stretched to begin fire extinguishment. While these hose leads were being laid the propane tank for the barbecue, which had been started by the homeowners to grill their dinner, was acting like a blow torch blasting through the fiberglass roof panels and causing fire to be pushed into the attic through the metal vents under the eaves of the house. Fire crews were able to get most of the fire involving the deck and its roof knocked down fairly quickly, however the process of getting to and extinguishing the fire in the attic space over the kitchen took considerable more time and involved a lot of hard work on the part of the fire fighters. The damage to the house was confined to the deck and its roof and the kitchen/dining room area inside sustained considerable damage. Some of the structural members of the trussed roof received severe damage as well. There were no reports of any injuries neither to the fire fighters at the scene nor to the four occupants who were at home at the time of the fire. The electrical power to the house had to be shut off, leaving no way to heat the house until repairs to the damaged electrical circuits can be made. The current cold weather in our area is compounding the problems for the homeowners due to the possibility of water pipes inside the house freezing. The Spokane City Fire Dept. would like to ask all citizens to be extra vigilant of the causes for home fires during this cold snap and with everyone's help and awareness we hope to keep the incidents of fires in our homes to a minimum. Six fire apparatus responded to this fire along with 2 command vehicles and 21 fire fighters. The cause of the fire was determined to be a mechanical failure of either the propane tank or the tubing from the propane tank to the barbecue
PROBABLE CAUSE: Mechanical failure of the propane tank or the tubing carrying the propane from the tank to the barbecue.
DAMAGE EXTENT: The rear deck and its roof, the kitchen/dining area inside the home. Smoke damage throughout the interior of the house.
DOLLAR LOSS: 15,000
FIREFIGHTER RESPONSE: 21
MUTUAL AID: None Given