Tour Commander, 509.625.7100
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 at 11:12 a.m.
At 8:59 pm on Tuesday, February 18, 2020, the Spokane Fire Department (SFD) was dispatched to the 1200-block of West Riverside Ave for an alarm activation. Additional information from the caller indicated a kitchen fire on the third floor and the incident was immediately upgraded to a commercial fire.
SFD arrived within 3-minutes of the original dispatch and confirmed a fire in an apartment with smoke in the third floor hallway. As crews from the Browne's Edition fire house made entry into the apartment, they encountered the homeowner searching for pets in near zero-visibility. The occupant and pets were removed and an aggressive fire attack quickly extinguished the fire.
All of the apartments were evacuated and the fire was contained to room of origin. The stove was accidentally turned on with items igniting on the stove top. A single smoke detector was sounding, which prompted a neighbor to pull the hallway fire alarm for the building. The combination of a working smoke detector and astute neighbor activating the manual fire alarm likely saved the building from significant damage.
Two occupants were treated on the scene for smoke inhalation with one person getting transported to the hospital. No firefighters were injured. The historic structure was built in 1904 and valued over a million dollars. Damage was limited to under $20,000.
The SFD recommends that occupants get out, stay out, and close the door behind them when confronted with a fire in a structure. Open doors and windows will only make the fire grow faster. The highly trained and experienced members of SFD will conduct a search for people and pets. The best information about victims, layout of the structure, and location of fire will come from an occupant waiting for the fire department "outside".
