Oct. 30—Two children died early Monday morning in a house fire in Millwood.
The boys were unresponsive when they were located by firefighters, and first responders attempted life-saving measures for 45 minutes, Erickson said.
The children's father and a firefighter were injured and taken by ambulance to a hospital. The father, Eugene "Gene" Ford, was treated and released and was back on scene later in the morning in scrubs and a sweatshirt with soot covering his skin. The firefighter also was treated and released, said Patrick Erickson, Spokane Valley Fire Department spokesman.
Spokane Valley firefighters were called to the single-story home at 9815 E. Dalton Avenue about 2:45 a.m. and were told at the home that two people still were inside, Erickson said.
Margie Ford, the grandmother of the two boys, identified them as Maverick Ford, 7, and Gabriel Davis, 9 — "just babies," she said. Two dogs also died, she told The Spokesman-Review at the scene.
Margie Ford said the father told the two children to get out of the home when one of them woke up and yelled "fire!" Her son tried to put it out, she said, but couldn't. Spokane Valley Fire Department said in a news release that when first responders arrived, they found "one person attempting to fight the fire with a garden hose."
Neighbor Cindy Sinatra said Gene Ford ran to her home, banging on her door. She called 911 because she thought someone was going to break into her home.
"I saw out the window there were flames," Sinatra said. "He was running around the house going, 'My kids are inside, my kids are inside!' As soon as he said that, I heard a pop, pop, pop, pop, and the whole thing just exploded."
Sinatra said Gene Ford ran around the home frantically and tried to break into the bedroom of the two children through a window to get them out.
"He couldn't break them," Sinatra said. "By this time, the whole house was in flames."
Both boys attended Linwood Elementary school, and a crisis counseling team was at the school to support students and staff Monday morning, said Spokane Public Schools Spokesperson Ryan Lancaster.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, Erickson said.
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