River rescue turns up basketball

Several minor fires and an emergency trip to the Spokane River that turned up only a floating basketball were among 207 emergency calls to Valley Fire last week.

Nine structure-type fires were reported between May 8 and Monday, said department spokesman Bill Clifford. Most turned out to be minor, including a fire at Core-Mark Industries at the Industrial Park May 9 where a problematic cardboard compactor caught fire.

Ten alarm systems went off that week, though all turned out to be false or minor, Clifford said.

The single brush fire reported during that period turned out to be an illegal burn and the people on scene were told to put it out, he said.

There were four hazardous materials incidents.

Among them, a gas leak was reported at Pratt Elementary School at 2:22 p.m., May 10. Detection equipment found leaks around the boiler that were repaired without incident, Clifford said.

Serious vehicle accidents were down. Eleven were reported and two of those required transportation to the hospital, he said.

Firefighters also handled 165 emergency medical calls, six service calls and a report of someone drifting down the Spokane River.

But when rescue crews arrived, “the only thing we could find was a basketball floating in the water,” Clifford said.