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| Spokane Fire - Media Release |
Thursday September 2 - 7:38 PM |
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| Special Situation |
| Date : |
Address : |
Officer : |
| 1/6/2009 |
6363 North Smith, Arlington Elementary School |
Brian Schaeffer |
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| Narrative : |
| On Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 10:32 AM, 8 Companies of Spokane Firefighters, 5 Engines, 1 Heavy Rescue and 2 Senior Ladders under the direction of Battalion Chiefs Cornelius and Inman responded to a reported fire in the building at 6363 North Smith, Arlington Elementary School.
Firefighters arrived quickly to the school and found all children, staff and faculty had evacuated correctly within the playground area. Companies were told that a haze and odor of smoke was present in the boiler area. A unified command post was established immediately with the school’s principal staff and Police Department which quickly established unified strategic goals and objectives to manage the incident. Fortunately, preparations were already in place for this emergency and were available to the Incident Commander in the Fire Department’s “Rapid Responder” Program. The information aided decision-making, locations for access/utility shutoffs and contacts for additional, specialized resources.
The fire companies were quickly able to control the building and isolate the source of the odor. Using instrumentation from the HazMat Team, they thoroughly confirmed that no hazards were present in the building and let the occupants back into the school in an organized fashion.
Cooperation and assistance from Spokane Public Schools’ staff cannot be over stated. We regard the competence of the staff at the Arlington Elementary School in the highest regard and their performance in this incident was nothing less than exceptional. |
| Cause : |
| The exact cause of the odor is unknown, however most likely attributed to nearby wood burning stove/fireplaces that were introduced into the HVAC system due to the atmospheric conditions. |
| Damage : |
| No damage. |
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Spokane Fire Department  44 West Riverside Ave Spokane WA, 99201 (509) 625-7002 |
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©1997 - 2002, Spokane Fire Department - City of Spokane, Washington
All rights reserved. |
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