Fire consumes Pullman garage

Fire destroyed a garage the night of Dec. 5 in the Sunnyside Hill section of Pullman, but Pullman and District 12 firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to a two-story residence. The fire at 735 High Street was reported shortly after 6 p.m. Flames from the burning garage could be seen by fire crews as they responded along S. Grand.

The house is about 30 feet away from the garage and attached carport. A 22-foot boat and an ATV four wheeler were in the building.

The fire damaged utility lines, and an Avista crew was called to restore power to the residence and a neighboring home. The family of four was allowed back into the house which had some smoke in the basement.

While crews were at the scene on High Street dispatchers received a report of smoke detected on WSU campus buildings. They determined the source of the smoke that set off the campus detectors was the High Street fire which was about a mile away on Sunnyside Hill.

Rich Dragoo, fire prevention officer for the Pullman Fire Department, said they have determined the fire was caused by a series of events related to electricity.

Estimated damage for the fire was $20,000.

Dragoo, who spent last Thursday, Dec. 13, examining fire patterns, said a short in a shop lamp cord did not trip a breaker because the non-grounded shop lamp was connected to a grounded cord. Dragoo said sparks from the lamp cord landed on combustibles which were on top of the work bench, and the fire spread to a five gallon can of gasoline.