Fire Press Release

ISSUING OFFICER: Brian Schaeffer
DATE OF INCIDENT: 1/6/2009
INCIDENT TYPE: Structure Fire
INCIDENT ADDRESS: 5720 North G Street
CITY: Spokane
STATE: WA
ZIP: 99208

NARRATIVE: On Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 09:16 AM, 7 Companies of Spokane Firefighters, 4 Engines, 1 Heavy Rescue, 1 Senior Ladder, 1 Pumper-Ladder under the direction of Battalion Chiefs Inman and Cornelius responded to a residence fire at 5720 North G Street.

Firefighters from the neighborhood Fire Station (Station 16) arrived within 5 minutes to discover a single family residence with smoke showing. Engine 16 and neighboring Engine 17 forced entry to the home under heavy smoke and heat conditions to discover a working basement fire. The alarm was upgraded to a working fire and efforts by arriving companies were focused at searching the home for trapped occupants and confining the fire to the area of origin.

A well coordinated interior fire attack combined with ventilation efforts allowed firefighters to quickly gain the upper hand on the fire. Firefighters were able to rescue two cats and one dog during their search. All three animals received emergency medical by crews on scene, including oxygen via special masks provided by a local Veterinarian group. All three animals were resuscitated and recovering well at the time of this release. The fire was controlled in just 15-minutes and was confined to the basement. There were no injuries reported.


PROBABLE CAUSE: The cause is under investigation by the Spokane Fire Department's Special Investigation Unit.
DAMAGE EXTENT: The home suffered heat, smoke and water damage.
DOLLAR LOSS: 25,000
FIREFIGHTER RESPONSE: 25
MUTUAL AID: None Given

For more information on this release, please call (509)625-7002 and/or check out the SFD Blog at www.spokanefire.blogspot.com

END OF RELEASE