Woman injured in Clarkston storage unit fire

PHOTOS: A woman was injured and taken to the hospital after her storage unit caught on fire. Asotin County Fire District 1 (ACFD) and Lewiston Firefighters responded to a large fire in a storage unit in the 2200 block of Appleside Boulevard in Clarkston Heights around midnight on Saturday, May 4. Fire crews reported that two storage units within a large facility had flames and smoke showing. Firefighters battled the fire in the storage unit and managed to contain most of the damage to just two units, although smoke had spread into three other storage units. Firefighters were able to cut the locks on the other units and stop the spread of the fire. ACFD stated that the woman had been rearranging items in her storage unit and accidentally knocked over a propane heater, which started the fire.
NonStop Local

Multiple fire crews tackle Selah fire

PHOTOS: May 5th saw firefighters from Yakima Training Center responding to a mutual aid request to assist the Selah Fire Department with structure fire on Selah Loop Road. By the time crews arrived, the home was nearly fully involved. Crews from City of Yakima Fire Department, Yakima County Fire District 4 - East Valley, and Gleed Fire Department worked together to bring the fire under control. No cause has yet been determined and there was no loss of life or reported injury.
KIMA-TV CBS/CW+ 29 Yakima

Whatcom Fire District 1 looks to build new station

A local fire district is asking for voters’ help to move its station out of a flood zone. Whatcom Fire District 1 announced this week that they will place a $13 million bond measure on the Aug. 6 election ballot to fund construction of a new station. It will be joining the ballot measure to fund the move of Whatcom Fire District 17’s Sandy Point fire station to a property outside of a flood zone. The Sandy Point measure just failed in the April 23 election by a single vote. Fire Chief Rachel Carlson said the bond would allow the district to move out of the floodplain with a much-needed, modernized facility. Funds from the bond would be used for the design, construction and equipping of the new fire station. The multi-use facility would also double as an Emergency Operations Center for disaster management.
KBAI-FM 98.9 Bellingham

Neighbors heartbroken after fire destroys cafe in Seattle’s Ballard area

VIDEO: A fire destroyed a neighborhood cafe in Seattle’s Ballard area Thursday morning. Several neighbors told KIRO 7 they heard a loud explosion before the fire. “You heard the boom; it sounded like a dumpster full of glass had gotten dumped,” said Aaron Quammem. The fire broke out just before 7:30 a.m. Quammem, who lives across the street, said several neighbors, including himself, jumped into action. “I come outside to that, and everyone else is kind of trying to pitch in, we’ve all got our little fire extinguishers,” said Quammem. Seattle Fire said crews were able to stop the flames from spreading to other businesses, but unfortunately, the market was severely damaged. Neighbors are heartbroken and said the cafe has been a staple in the community for years.
KIRO-TV CBS 7 Seattle

One injured as crews respond to 3-alarm fire in Kent

A fire at Valley Self Storage in Kent is mostly out after more than 60 firefighters responded to the scene Thursday evening. One person was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital, according to Puget Sound Fire. By around 6:40 p.m. crews were extinguishing hot spots. Fire crews were dispatched to the storage facility around 5:10 p.m., according to Puget Sound Fire Division Chief Pat Pawlak. When they arrived, they found heavy smoke coming from a storage unit. Additional firefighters were called to the scene as those already there treated one person for injuries and began attacking the fire. Crews limited the spread of the fire by strip cutting the roof, limiting the horizontal spread, according to Pawlak. Fire officials estimate roughly 30 storage units were impacted by the fire.
KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

Fire experts in Spokane County start new push for safety after devastating 2023 Gray wildfires

VIDEO: May is Wildfire Awareness Month, and wildfire experts across Spokane County hosted a fire preparedness event on Thursday in Medical Lake, the city where the devastating Gray Road Fire broke out in August of 2023. Wildfire experts from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Spokane County Fire Districts (SCFD) 3 and 10, and Spokane Valley Fire Department all gave presentations on preparing for wildfire season. Many presenters and officials told NonStop Local that the wildfire season in 2024 might be just as bad, or worse, than last year. "I would suspect that it's going to be similar to last year. It could be worse. County wide, there's a significant number of high-risk areas. Fire District 3 alone... south of Cheney, in the Aspen Meadows area... Another area of concern... kind of the Excelsior...Mullan Hill area off of Highway 95," Dustin Flock, Division Chief of Fire Prevention with SCFD 3, said.
NonStop Local