(Based on information from the Pullman Fire Department at 4 p.m. Thursday.)
PULLMAN — The Washington State Fire Marshal’s office has been called in to help the Pullman Fire Department with the investigation of five fires that erupted between 4:30-6:45 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 15, in Pullman.
Pullman Fire Chief Pat Wilkins said the Region 8 Fire Investigative Task Force, based in Walla Walla, was contacted early in the day as his crews were responding to their third fire in less than an hour.
Fire officials said the first call came in at 4:31 a.m. in the 500 block of SE Jackson Street. A detached garage was fully involved when firefighters arrived. Wilkins said as firefighters were dousing that fire, they found another garage that was on fire in the immediate vicinity.
The Pullman Fire Department requested mutual aid from Whitman Rural District 12, Colfax Fire Department and Moscow Fire Department.
At 5:13 a.m. firefighters were called to a fully involved nine-unit apartment complex at Nye and True streets. Upon arrival the firemen found an adjacent duplex also on fire.
Wilkins said one person was injured in the Nye Street fire. The individual received cuts, smoke inhalation and some burns. He was transported to Pullman Regional Hospital and then was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment.
A fully-involved vehicle fire was reported at 6:45 a.m. on McKenzie Street near LaPlante Honda. A SUV was destroyed in the fire.
The Pullman Police Department is working closely with the fire department in all of the fires this morning.
The Pullman Police Department is working closely with the fire department in all of the fires this morning.
If anyone saw anything suspicious or anyone in the vicinity of these fires this morning, they are asked to contact the Pullman Police Department at 334-0802.
Given this situation, all students, faculty and staff are encouraged to secure their property. Lock doors, windows and other points of access. Make sure no materials that can burn are left around the outside of your property. Continue to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity.
Citizens who want to help the victims of the fire are asked to contact Brenda Lawlor, disaster services director for the Inland Northwest Red Cross, headquartered in Spokane, at 800-793-0278, or at 509-990-0438.
For related news articles, click on the following links to:
* (videos) KREM.com — Trail of destruction: Suspicious fires ravage Pullman, http://www.krem.com/topstories/stories/krem2_111507_pullmanfires.5fc92e0.html
* KXLY.com — String of suspicious fires strike Pullman, http://www.kxly.com/index.php?story_id=15878
* KHQ TV — Investigators following leads on suspicious Pullman fires, http://www.khq.com/Global/story.asp?s=7364322
