SPOKANE, Wash. – A man is dead, and three others, two being children, are seriously injured in an early morning house fire near West Central Spokane.
On Saturday, April 20 at 4:10 a.m., the Spokane Fire Department responded to a house fire in the 1700 block of Howard. Reports to 911 indicated the porch was on fire.
The 911 caller was unable to access the front door due to fire conditions. Firefighters arrived in less than four minutes and observed heavy fire coming from the front of the house.
Fire crews made access to the interior of the house from the second floor in the rear and began the search for victims. Crews faced challenging conditions but quickly found four victims.
Two adults and two children were found and rescued from the second floor of the house. Due to the ongoing rescues and advancing fire, the incident commander elevated the incident to a second alarm.
Spokane Fire and AMR crews immediately started medical interventions on all victims. One adult male was declared dead on the scene. One adult and two children were transported in critical condition.
The Spokane Fire Department’s Special Investigations Unit remains on the scene, working with the Spokane Police Department to determine the cause of the fire.
After the investigation, more information, including the deceased’s identity, will be disclosed in collaboration with the Spokane police.
Zhitem Veach said she was woken up by lights and sirens outside her house. Once she saw smoke through her window, she was too afraid to go outside.
“I could hear a lot of commotion going on, and I could see all the white smoke in the sky behind us, and I didn’t come out here, because everything was going on,” Veach said.
Another neighbor, Jim, said he looked out his window around 4am, and saw flames.
“I mean the garage, was just totally engulfed in flames, and all the crews were working, and then I saw some of them go to the back with a ladder second floor,” Jim said.
The family of the victims created an online fundraiser.
