SPOKANE, Wash,. – The Spokane and Spokane County Fire Departments responded to an apartment fire at Prairie Hills in north Spokane after 10 a.m. Crews knocked the main part of the fire out in minutes after arriving, according to the Spokane Fire Department.
David Fisher with Spokane Fire Department (SFD) said they were on another call down the street, and when they headed to the scene saw a column of black smoke.
“There was a good amount of flames where you see the charring on the building there, one of the residents tried to put the fire out with a garden hose, which isn’t very effective I wouldn’t advise it,” Fisher said.
Of the five house and apartment fires in Spokane since last week,, , one was caused by faulty electrical wiring, two others are still , including Friday morning’s, according to Spokane and Spokane Valley Fire Departments.
Justin de Ruyter with SFD said that in this hotter weather, the fire risk goes up, and using portable air conditioning incorrectly can increase that fire risk. “It’s that continuous draw, they draw a lot of energy, and then when you’re talking days and hours, when you stack all that up, you can really get that heat to build up,” de Ruyter said. He said the most common misuse is plugging them into a power strip. He also said many times you can tell when they are not working properly.
