Surveillance video captures the moment a fire began in the Symons Building in downtown Spokane on January 28, 2016. According to officials, the first sign there was a problem can be seen from the small flicker from a light fixture. Hot material dripped from the fixture to the floor level. This led to plastic material igniting and moving into the adjacent wood wall. The sprinkler head in the building activated and helped confine the fire to a small area.
“This video shows how something that starts out small can quickly escalate without the proper fire suppression systems in place,” said City of Spokane Fire Marshal Michael Miller. “If not for the working sprinkler, this fire could have been much worse. This is another example of why we stress the importance of installing and properly maintain automatic fire suppression and detection systems.”