Chief Brian Schaeffer
Monday, April 23, 2018 at 10:05 a.m.
The Spokane Fire Department was summoned to a report of a building fire at 3:31 AM on April 22, 2018. First arriving companies found heavy fire coming through the roof of Shogun Restaurant (821 East 3rd Avenue) and immediately began to attack the fire. Despite their attempts to enter the building, they were quickly forced out due to deteriorating conditions above them. The incident commander eventually declared a defensive strategy keeping firefighters from entering the building. Despite intense flames reaching skyward and threatening an adjacent hotel and several other buildings, the fire was skillfully confined to the structure of fire origin, preventing it from consuming occupied buildings and a storage facility.
Due to the location and elevation of the building, areas below it have experienced flooding due to a significant amount of water necessary to fight the fire. Most of the run-off water has only flooded a few intersections, namely Sprague Way and Third Avenue, and Arthur and Second Avenue.
The fire was declared under control in 7-hours, and no injuries were reported at the time of this release.
The damage to the structure and contents appears to be a total loss. The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Spokane Fire Department’s Special Investigation Unit.
