SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane fire investigators say welding sparks started a fire in an auto repair shop Tuesday morning. The fire has been ruled an accident.
Spokane Fire Department spokesperson Justin de Ruyter says when firefighters arrived at the garage on East Holyoke Avenue, they found heavy smoke and fire pouring out the door.
Crews from Spokane County Fire District 9 assisted in the firefight, which took about an hour. SFD says firefighters had to force entry through the front and rear doors of four affected businesses.
The garage, which sits in a building housing seven other businesses in North Spokane, has extensive smoke, fire, and water damage, de Ruyter said. The fire extended into the main building of the repair shop and into an attic shared by neighboring businesses. Three businesses had substantial damage, SFD says, and will be displaced indefinitely. The businesses on the other half of the building had light smoke damage, but can stay in operation…