Graham Road fire claims life

A fire west of Cheney at 16909 S. Graham Road, early on the morning of Tuesday, April 24, claimed the life of an occupant and a dog.

Spokane County Fire District No. 3 was first notified of the fire with a call at around 6:40 a.m. and was dispatched to the scene. The home was located several hundred yards off the main road and the fire hard to see.

"By the time resources were on scene the house was fully involved," Fire District No. 3 Chief Cody Rohrbach said. "It (the smoke) could have been mistaken for a slash burn," he added.

Incident public information officer, Spokane County Fire Dist. No. 3 Division Chief, Dustin Flock, said that initial call indicated a fully involved structure.

"One of our division chiefs arrived at 6:55 and upgraded it to a working structure fire," Flock said. "She was able to see a column of smoke on her way out." Fire attack crews arrived on scene at 7 a.m.

Original information indicated there was an occupant in the house. At that time it was unconfirmed, but as crews doused the fire they discovered the bodies of an adult male and a dog.

No identities were available pending notification of next of kin. The Spokane County Sheriff's Office was handling that duty. A Spokane Valley fire department investigator was on scene looking for a cause. Rohrbach said no foul play was suspected as being the cause of the fire.

The structure was termed a total loss with 50 percent of the structure "On the ground," Flock said. That is where the victim was found. The remainder of the home sustained high-impact smoke damage.

Twenty fire fighters and 11 trucks responded to the call, including one from the Cheney Fire Department.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].