Heavy smoke forces brief relocation to jail
Brian Schaeffer, Assistant Fire Chief, 509.625.7002
Sunday, October 4, 2015 at 8:57 a.m.
A small electrical fire in a mechanical room at the Juvenile Detention Center early this morning briefly relocated those housed there to the Spokane County Jail. No one was injured, but fire crews spent two hours ventilating smoke from the building.
A total of 34 Spokane Fire Department firefighters responded to the facility about 2 am. Jail staff reported heavy smoke on the first and second floor of the building.
While detention center staff moved occupants to an uninvolved area of the building firefighters located a small electrical fire in a mechanical room on the west end of the second floor of the building. Because the fire involved energized electrical equipment fire crews utilized dry chemical firefighting agents to extinguish it.
Fire damage was confined to the electrical circuits that control the buildings HVAC systems. Cause was determined to be an electrical malfunction.
