Fire destroys two mobile homes in Spokane Valley

Aug. 28--Two mobile homes were destroyed and two others damaged in a Spokane Valley fire early Thursday.

No one was injured.

Resident Randy Rinderneck, 53, said he woke up around 5 a.m. and saw flames through the blinds of his mobile home in Appleway Park Estates in the 200 block of South Park Road. He started yelling for his roommate, John Eimers, 54, to get up. When they opened the back door of their trailer home, they saw the vacant trailer next door was on fire, the men said.

They started to leave the home when their dog, a 200-pound Newfoundland named Bear, dashed for the back bedroom. They managed to pull the dog out and it fled into the nearby woods. As of Thursday afternoon they hadn't found Bear.

As they left their home they tried to move Rinderneck's car, but just as they went to open the door the power lines above their heads exploded and fell. They both managed to get out of the trailer, saving nothing more than a wallet and their car keys.

"I can replace the stuff, whatever," Eimers said. "But you can't replace the dog."

Rinderneck and Eimers are longtime friends. Rinderneck said they were contemplating getting renters insurance just a week ago, but decided against it for the time being.

"We just paid rent on a place we can't live," Eimers said.

Both men had guns and ammunition in the trailer. They said as the fire burned rounds started exploding.

The Red Cross assisted displaced residents. Eimers will stay in a Red Cross-provided hotel for the next few days while he figures out his next move. Rinderneck is staying with friends.

Ken Capaul, a battalion chief with Spokane Valley Fire Department, said two trailers were destroyed and two others were damaged. Two of the affected trailers were vacant. Fire officials were worried the fire would jump to the nearby woods but they managed to contain it. The lack of wind helped, Capaul said.

Avista Utilities also was on scene to repair a melted natural gas line, Capaul said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Damage is estimated at about $200,000.

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