Spokane: SPD and SFD Respond to Early Morning Fire in Downtown Apartments

Officer T. Leming, PIO

At approximately 1:00 a.m. on September 29, Spokane Police Department officers responded to the Grand Coulee Apartments at 106 S. Cedar St. after 911 callers reported hearing a man yelling and banging inside a fourth-floor apartment.

After arriving, officers heard loud popping sounds and discovered smoke filling the fourth floor. Officers immediately requested the Spokane Fire Department and began evacuating residents from the building.

Firefighters were dispatched at 1:26 a.m. Nine firefighters and a battalion chief from nearby Station 4 arrived in less than four minutes and found heavy smoke coming from the fourth floor of the four-story masonry apartment building. At least one occupant was visible at a fourth-floor window and needed assistance evacuating.

Spokane police officers advised arriving firefighters of a report that a possible occupant on the fourth floor may have had a firearm. Faced with heavy smoke conditions and multiple occupants needing assistance, the incident commander made the decision to continue normal fireground operations due to the immediate life-safety risk.

Truck 4 positioned its aerial ladder to the fourth floor and assisted the occupant at the window, while firefighters placed additional ground ladders to the fire escape and lower-floor windows. Before firefighters entered the building, Spokane police officers had already entered heavy smoke and low-visibility conditions and helped evacuate most of the occupants from the fourth floor.

A fire attack team reached the apartment where the fire originated and quickly extinguished the flames. Additional crews searched the remaining units to ensure no occupants were trapped or injured.

Two occupants were evaluated at the scene—one for smoke inhalation and another for injuries sustained in a fall. Neither required transportation to the hospital. The American Red Cross was contacted to assist ten adults and one child displaced by the fire and smoke damage.

The apartment where the fire originated sustained heavy fire damage, with smoke damage extending into fourth-floor common areas and other apartments.

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During the investigation, Spokane police officers detained a possible suspect who had exited the apartment where the fire originated. According to SPD, the suspect told officers he had started a pile of clothing on fire. A witness who lived with him also reported that he had been throwing fireworks inside the apartment.

Fire investigators confirmed the fire was human-caused. SPD developed probable cause to charge 36-year-old Andrew E. Gale with First-Degree Arson. He was evaluated at the scene for smoke inhalation before being transported and booked into the Spokane County Jail.

Firefighters credited a closed apartment door with helping contain the fire to the room of origin. This incident provides another important reminder: If you are escaping a fire, close doors behind you whenever possible. A closed door can slow the spread of fire and smoke and limit the oxygen available to the fire, buying valuable time for occupants to escape and firefighters to reach the fire.

At approximately 1:00 a.m. on September 29, Spokane Police Department officers responded to the Grand Coulee Apartments at 106 S. Cedar St. after 911 callers reported hearing a man yelling and banging inside a fourth-floor apartment.

After arriving, officers heard loud popping sounds and discovered smoke filling the fourth floor. Officers immediately requested the Spokane Fire Department and began evacuating residents from the building.

Firefighters were dispatched at 1:26 a.m. Nine firefighters and a battalion chief from nearby Station 4 arrived in less than four minutes and found heavy smoke coming from the fourth floor of the four-story masonry apartment building. At least one occupant was visible at a fourth-floor window and needed assistance evacuating.

Spokane police officers advised arriving firefighters of a report that a possible occupant on the fourth floor may have had a firearm. Faced with heavy smoke conditions and multiple occupants needing assistance, the incident commander made the decision to continue normal fireground operations due to the immediate life-safety risk.

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Truck 4 positioned its aerial ladder to the fourth floor and assisted the occupant at the window, while firefighters placed additional ground ladders to the fire escape and lower-floor windows. Before firefighters entered the building, Spokane police officers had already entered heavy smoke and low-visibility conditions and helped evacuate most of the occupants from the fourth floor.

A fire attack team reached the apartment where the fire originated and quickly extinguished the flames. Additional crews searched the remaining units to ensure no occupants were trapped or injured.

Two occupants were evaluated at the scene—one for smoke inhalation and another for injuries sustained in a fall. Neither required transportation to the hospital. The American Red Cross was contacted to assist ten adults and one child displaced by the fire and smoke damage.

The apartment where the fire originated sustained heavy fire damage, with smoke damage extending into fourth-floor common areas and other apartments.

During the investigation, Spokane police officers detained a possible suspect who had exited the apartment where the fire originated. According to SPD, the suspect told officers he had started a pile of clothing on fire. A witness who lived with him also reported that he had been throwing fireworks inside the apartment.

Fire investigators confirmed the fire was human-caused. SPD developed probable cause to charge 36-year-old Andrew E. Gale with First-Degree Arson. He was evaluated at the scene for smoke inhalation before being transported and booked into the Spokane County Jail.

Firefighters credited a closed apartment door with helping contain the fire to the room of origin. This incident provides another important reminder: If you are escaping a fire, close doors behind you whenever possible. A closed door can slow the spread of fire and smoke and limit the oxygen available to the fire, buying valuable time for occupants to escape and firefighters to reach the fire.

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