Residents in north Spokane had to be evacuated from the top floors of a high-rise retirement home after reporting smoke Monday morning.
The incident happened at the Lilac Plaza Retirement Community on the 7000 block of Wiscomb Street.
Firefighters say tenants on the 12th, 13th, and 14th floors had to be evacuated.
“With the retirement community you do have some people with limited mobility issues,” said Spokane Fire Battalion Chief, David Heizer. “So we would have an assigned crew to the task of assisting the occupants off of the 14th floor or whichever area the danger is in.”
Chief Heizer says one of the ways firefighters do that is by using a stair chair. The device was originally intended for medical personnel to use for patients, but fire departments have learned to appreciate them as well.