Homeowners near East Valley High School had an early wake-up call Saturday morning, when they heard a loud noise around 9:45 a.m. Homes in the area started to shake.
"To move a house and shake everything from a percussion from an explosion like that is pretty large," neighbor James Beamish told KHQ. "it sounded a lot more aggressive and louder than thunder and lightening so that made us go look around the house."
James checked outside to see if a tree had fallen onto his house or a neighbor's. When he walked out on to his back deck, he looked around and saw a large plume of smoke. Shortly after, James saw the fire.
Spokane Valley Firefighters arrived on scene and worked to put out the flames. According to officals, a man was burning a large slash pile of wood and other debris when the explosion occurred, sparking an even larger fire.