Tour Commander, 509.625.7100
Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 8:45 a.m.
Yesterday (Sunday, January 16, 2022), at 11:59 AM, a full commercial alarm was dispatched to 212 South Washington Street for smoke alarms sounding throughout the building. Additional callers indicated heavy smoke was in the hallway on the top floor.
The first company arrived in three minutes and was met by approximately 30 occupants safely evacuating the building from its 17 units. With help from companies arriving nearly simultaneously, hose lines were stretched from engines to the top floor and into the unit of origin. All floors, stairwells, and units were searched for the presence of potential victims. Firefighters quickly identified the occupant living in the unit where the fire had started and brought him to awaiting paramedics. He was treated by SFD Paramedics for smoke inhalation and admitted to a local hospital for definitive treatment.
The fire was contained to one unit primarily due to early detection and an effective firefighting force arriving quickly. Thankfully this building had a recent upgrade to its fire alarm system. While the building was not protected with a sprinkler system (that would have suppressed the fire), it did have all of the alarms interconnected to alert occupants of an emergency and give them precious time to escape.
The cause of the fire was determined to be the misuse of a portable heater by placing it too close to combustible material. No firefighters were injured as a result of the incident, and no other civilians were injured in this incident.
