Spokane-Area Trailer Fires from Smoke Bombs Aimed at Cat

First of all, he should have known you cannot really get a cat to do something they don’t want to…

    Airway Heights Man Triggers Big Fire with Smoke Bombs

  The Airway Heights Police Department and Spokane County Sheriff’s Office continue to investigate a Monday afternoon fire, involving a stubborn cat, and smoke bombs.

Around 4 PM  Airway Heights Fire and Police were called to a location at 12400 block of W. 18th Ave. between Fairchild AFB and the Spokane Airport, about a 5th wheel trailer fire.

    The Suspect Admitted he was trying to Flush out a Cat

When crews arrived the 5th wheel RV was on fire, and it was spreading to a pair of nearby mobile homes.  The suspect, identified as 54-year-old Stephen N. Hand,  initially told Deputies and Officers it was a trash-related blaze, but when confronted by his girlfriend, admitted he was using smoke bombs to try and flush her cat out from under the trailer.

No word if the cat complied, but the blaze ended up destroying the 5th wheel, where Hand was living, and the two mobile homes. However, no injuries were reported.

Hand was booked into the Spokane County Jail on at least one count of 1st. Degree Arson.  The cost of the fire, damages, was not revealed.