DATE OF INCIDENT: 7/3/2009
INCIDENT TYPE: Structure Fire
INCIDENT ADDRESS: 5408 East Commerce Avenue
CITY: Spokane
STATE: WA
ZIP: 99212
NARRATIVE: On Friday July 3, 2009 at 08:41 AM, 8 Companies of Spokane Firefighters, 5 Engines, 2 Senior Ladders and 1 Heavy Rescue under the direction of Battalion Chiefs Cornelius and Inman responded to a reported residence fire at 5408 East Commerce Avenue on the City's far east side. The neighborhood's Fire Engine (Engine 8) arrived within five minutes and reported a single family home fully involved in fire. Nearby residents also reported that fire was blowing from all of the windows of the home and the front yard. As the first company was establishing a water supply and preparing to take action on the fire, two patients were identified as occupants from the home by neighbors. An adult female and 4-year old male (mother and son) were able to escape from the home prior to the Fire Department's arrival and were found across the street suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. Simultaneously, other companies arrived and provided advanced life support to the patients as other companies made entry into the home to search for additional family members and attack the fire. Neighbors had reported to on-scene personnel that multiple family members routinely stayed at the home which resulted in companies searching the home and its basement four-times under heavy fire conditions.
Both patients were transported to Sacred Heart and are receiving treatment there for injuries received from the incident. The fire was controlled in 30-minutes with all of the assigned resources working extremely hard in difficult conditions. Firefighters were successful in confining the fire to the home, limiting loss to the family's possessions and preventing the fire's spread to adjacent homes. The Spokane Police Department's Chaplain was also successful in locating and accounting for family members which were off-site with relatives.
The outcome of this incident reinforces the importance of the Fire Department providing Paramedic-Level Emergency Medical Services in the fashion that we do. Dual trained Firefighters as Paramedics allows us to immediately treat injured/ill people without delay and truly bring the Emergency Room to the patient in need. In a Fire/EMS deployment system, time is of the essence; and the life saved today is a perfect example of the components of the system coming together for a successful outcome.
PROBABLE CAUSE: The cause of the fire has been determined to be the child playing with a lighter.
DAMAGE EXTENT: The majority of the home was destroyed by the fire. Some of the family's possessions were removed by firefighters and salvageable.
DOLLAR LOSS: 200,000
FIREFIGHTER RESPONSE: 27
MUTUAL AID: None Given
For more information on this release, please call (509)625-7002 and/or check out the SFD Blog at www.spokanefire.blogspot.com
END OF RELEASE
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