Cause of house fire undetermined

No injuries were reported

Michele Anderson, Public Safety Communications Manager

Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 1:17 p.m.

Fire investigators with the Spokane Fire Department’s Special Investigation Unit say Monday evening’s house fire on N. Wall St. started on the front porch of the home, but the cause of the fire is undetermined.

The residential fire was reported just after 7:00 p.m. in the 2600 block of N. Wall St. The residents discovered the fire in the front of their house, but were able to safely evacuate through a rear entrance.

Upon arrival, crews advised of a heavy amount of fire on the front side of the one story structure. Firefighters made an aggressive fire attack limiting damage and preventing the fire from spreading to other neighboring structures. The fire caused heavy damage to the front porch, attic and front rooms of the house.

The Spokane Fire Department would like to remind everyone of the importance of having working smoke alarms. Smoke alarms that are properly installed and maintained help save lives.

Important checklist for smoke alarms:

  • Have at least one alarm on every level of your home.
  • Have an alarm outside every sleeping area and inside every bedroom.
  • Check the back label on each alarm to know the date of manufacture. Make sure no alarm in your home is more than 10 years old.
  • Look for “ionization” or “photoelectric” or “photo-ion” on the back label of each alarm. Make sure you know the type of alarm you have.
  • Have at least one photoelectric alarm on each level of the home.
  • Check if your alarms have “hush buttons” so you don’t ever have to remove a battery to silence a nuisance alarm.
  • Check if your alarms have lithium batteries so you don’t have to replace the 9-volt batteries every year. Lithium batteries may last the life of the smoke alarm.
  • Test all of your alarms on the first day of every month to make sure they are still working.