SPOKANE, Wash. - Fire and explosions broke out in a storage
trailer at Avista utility's equipment
yards Monday afternoon on East Mission Avenue.
The fire causes plumes of black smoke so large that Spokane fire crews could see them from the
South Hill.
Spokane
firefighters received the first call about
a fire at Avista's headquarters around noon when a construction storage
trailer, with a hydraulic lift, was engulfed in flames. Inside the trailer, fire
crews said there was PVC piping, construction materials, and several flammable
liquids which sparked several explosions.
Several Avista employees tried to put out the fire with fire
extinguishers but firefighters said the blaze grew too large, too fast,
especially with the flammable liquids inside the trailer.
No one was hurt.
Several
witnesses caught the fire on camera including nearby resident Olga
Tarshikov, who was washing the dishes
when she saw the fire and heard the
explosions from her kitchen window.
"I was scared at first because it was too big," Tarshikov said.
"Flames and dark smoke were everywhere."
At this point, firefighters said
the trailer and everything inside the
trailer is completely destroyed as well. Portable mechanical equipment was also damaged. In all, one firefighter estimated the preliminary
damages to be $100,000.
Avista thanked the firefighters
for their quick response to the fire.
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