Tour Commander, 509.625.7100
Monday, March 23, 2020 at 3:15 p.m.
At just prior to 1am on Sunday morning, 3/22/20, the Spokane Fire Department with assistance from Spokane Country Fire District #9 responded to the Hillyard Tire building on the 5400 block of north Market for a reported structure fire.
Responding crews identified a smoke column from a mile away and upgraded the incident to a working fire. The first crews arrived within 4 minutes of dispatch and reported heavy fire conditions from the front (west) and north sides of the building. Because of the significant amount of fire throughout and questionable structural integrity, it was determined that firefighting operations would be conducted from the exterior with equipment designed to flow large amounts of water from aerial platforms.
Adjacent buildings were searched for any occupants with no one found. The fire was contained to the building of origin, however, it was a total loss. No injuries to firefighting personnel were reported.
Market street was closed for more than 12 hours to allow for firefighting operations and to demolish unsupported walls with collapse potential. Market was reopened at approximately 5pm Sunday evening once the building had been demolished and Market street was cleared of debris.
The fire is currently under investigation by the Spokane Fire Department Special Investigation Unit.
