Fire Press Release

North Side Duplex Fire Incident #: 2013002857 Date of Incident: 01/18/2013 Issuing Officer: Craig Cornelius / Battalion Chief Narrative: On January 18, 2013 at 11:41 A.M. 6 Companies of Spokane Firefighters; 4 Engines, 1 Senior Ladder, 1 Heavy Rescue and two Battalion Chiefs responded to a reported structure fire located at 629 E. Gordon Ave. Firefighters under the direction of Captain Ken Miller from Station 2 arrived within 4 minutes. (Station 2 is located at North Foothills Blvd. and Nevada.) Captain Miller reported that they found a single story duplex with smoke and fire showing in the front unit. He stated that smoke conditions indicated that the fire had already extended into the attic. The fire was upgraded to a “working fire” and the next responding engine was directed to secure a water supply from a hydrant. Captain Miller made immediate contact with the families living in the duplex and verified that everyone was out of the structure and accounted for. A coordinated effort of firefighters confined the fire to the kitchen and the attic area directly over the kitchen. These efforts brought the fire under control within 15 minutes. Fire crews were on the scene for over 1 ½ hours overhauling the fire damaged area and assisting the occupants. Investigators determined the fire cause to be electrical in nature. There were no injuries at this incident. The families are currently being assisted by the Spokane Red Cross. Cause: Electrical Damage: Fire in Kitchen area and Attic. # Firefighters Responding: 23 Dollar Loss: $ 25000 End Of Release For more information on this release please call (509) 625-7002

Fire Press Release - Medical Call is really a House Fire

South Battalion House Fire Incident #: 2013002498 Date of Incident: 01/16/2013 Issuing Officer: BC Dave Haworth Narrative: On Wednesday, January 16, at 0146 AM, the Spokane Fire Department responded 1 heavy rescue, 1 ladder company, 5 engines, and 2 battalion chiefs to a reported fire in a residence with injured occupants. SFD medic units were initially dispatched to a report of an injured person at this address but the incident was upgraded to fire response based on further information. SE7, located in the Southeast neighborhood, arrived first and reported smoke coming from a 1 story residence with three injured occupants outside. AMR Ambulance arrived and began to care for the injured occupants while fire crews prepared to enter the structure to search for further victims. As additional crews arrived they were directed to advance fire attack hoses, assist with searching the structure, and remove smoke. SPD assisted by cordoning off the area and providing crowd control. No other occupants were found during the search and the fire was located in a bedroom at the rear of the structure. The patients were transported to SHMC and their condition is unknown at the time of this release. Cause: Under investigation by Spokane Fire Department Investigators Damage: Damage was confined to the rear bedroom with heavy smoke damage throughout the rest of the residence # Firefighters Responding: 30 Dollar Loss: $ 25000 End Of Release For more information on this release please call (509) 625-7002

Fire press release

Basement Fire in Home

Incident #: 2013002293
Date of Incident: 01/14/2013
Issuing Officer: Craig Cornelius / Battalion Chief

Narrative:
On Monday, January 14th at 17:02 hours, the Spokane City Fire Dept. dispatched 6 fire apparatus to a reported house fire located at 1639 E. Glass Ave. The first arriving apparatus on scene was Ladder 2, responding from Fire Station 2 located at North Foothills Blvd and Nevada. Ladder 2’s Captain, reported a basement fire with smoke showing from the front door of the home. Station 2’s firefighters verified that all occupants were out of the home, but communicated over the radio that the family was unsure of the location of their dogs.
Command was established, and firefighters went to work. A hose line was advanced into the burning basement by Lt. Todd Chism and Firefighter Steven Harms, both off Engine 2. Other crews were simultaneously assigned to search the home for the missing dogs, secure a hydrant’s water supply and provide additional hose lines to curb the fire's extension while protecting crews working inside the home. Both a Safety Officer and a Rapid Intervention Team were established, and in place if needed.
Within 10 minutes, E2 reported that they had the fire knocked down in the basement. Two of the dogs had been accounted for and one was still missing. The fire was confined to the basement with heavy fire damage on this level of the home. The first floor of the home sustained smoke damage, but very little damage otherwise. Primary and secondary searches were made by fire crews, however, they were unable to account for the one missing dog which may be wandering somewhere in the neighborhood. Spokane’s Red Cross is assisting the displaced family. The Red Cross volunteers do a great job in helping Spokane families in time of need.

Cause:
The cause of this fire has been determined to be one, accidental in nature. Investigators found an electrical space heater that had been left too close to combustibles. The fire department wants to remind everyone the importance of monitoring portable electrical appliances and leaving an adequate clear space around them while they are in use.

Damage:
Extensive fire damage to contents in basement, smoke damage on first floor.

# Firefighters Responding: 21

Dollar Loss: $ 30,000

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

Fire Press Release

South Battalion Duplex Fire

Incident #: 2013001969
Date of Incident: 01/12/2013
Issuing Officer: Bob Green/Battalion Chief

Narrative:
The Spokane City Fire Dept. dispatched fire apparatus and their crews to 1306 E. 29th Ave. at 15:14 hrs on Saturday, January 12th for a reported structure fire. The first arriving apparatus on scene was Engine 11, located in the upper South East section of the City, and they reported smoke visible in the windows of one of the units of the duplex at that address. The crew from Engine 11 announced that they were going to enter the structure and begin an interior attack on what they believed to be was a kitchen fire in that unit. As additional fire crews began arriving on scene they were given assignments by the Incident Commander that included providing water supply from a fire hydrant, an Incident Safety Officer, search and rescue of the unit on fire and additionally to force open the front door of the neighboring unit in the duplex as neighbors had reported that they thought the tenants might still be inside. Other crews were assigned to ladder the structure and to be in position should vertical ventilation be required on the rooftop, some crews were assigned to enter the fire unit and help with the pulling of ceilings and opening walls to get at any concealed fire in those areas and the deployment of a RIT Team to be in position should the rescue of a lost or injured fire fighter become necessary. Fortunately the search found no victims in the building and the fire was brought under control in about 15 minutes. Fire damage to the kitchen in the unit was considerable and much of the interior of the building had to be opened up by the fire fighters to ensure that no fire was concealed in the walls, ceilings, and attic space. The areas of the unit not damaged by the fire itself were severely damaged by the heavy smoke conditions that were present. The Red Cross is assisting the tenant of the fire unit and her family with temporary lodging and the Spokane City Police provided much needed traffic control on a very congested 29th Ave. There were no reports of any injuries to fire fighters or to the tenants of the duplex. Four engines, one ladder, one Heavy Rescue Truck, and two Command vehicles responded to this incident with 20 fire fighters on scene to get the fire confined and extinguished. The Spokane Fire Dept. Special Investigation Unit has determined that the cause of the fire was an accidental fire related to the preparation of food in the kitchen.




Cause:
Cooking related fire.

Damage:
Total loss of the kitchen in the fire unit, considerable smoke damage to the rest of the fire unit.

# Firefighters Responding: 20

Dollar Loss: $ 40,000

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