A woman and her two dogs died in a house fire on the South Hill early Wednesday morning The Spokane Fire Department responded to multiple calls of flames erupting from a house at 608 W according to a release from the department Callers told dispatchers a woman was known to have lived in the house and had not been spotted outside after the neighborhood took notice of the blaze who lives next door to the burned home with her husband said a couple who lives across the street were the first to spot the flames They tried knocking on the door of the house to ensure everyone had gotten out The couple called 911 and went to the surrounding houses Firefighters pulled the woman and her two dogs from the fire within 10 minutes of arrival “It was just one of the scariest things,” Adolfae said and the two others that share property lines with the burned structure Adolfae said she was fearful the fire would jump to her house given the height of the flames and the heat they gave off I was thinking the houses were much closer being in the dark and with the flames shooting up,” Adolfae said The woman who lived in the house had taken over the property from her mother after she moved into a retirement community a few years ago who had been in the well-connected neighborhood for more than a decade Firefighters had to contend with “severe hoarding conditions” in the hour it took to control the blaze scorched clothing and melted women’s footwear littered the yard Wednesday morning Adolfae said there was a fire at the house two years ago as well multiple boxes could be seen inside the home filled with the mother’s and resident’s belongings likely still unpacked from when they were placed into storage after the first fire There were no injuries stemming from the 2023 fire which was reported by an alarm company that contacted 911 after a carbon monoxide detector in the house went off according to a Spokane Fire Department news release at the time Spokane Fire Department spokesman Justin de Ruyter said investigators are working to determine if smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors were in place at the time of the latest fire The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the identity of the victim The fire reduced the small 1938 house to a brick shell by sunrise Members of a restoration company were working on the roof as neighbors gathered out front Tuesday morning to check in with one another after a stressful night Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens © Copyright 2025, The Spokesman-Review | Community Guidelines | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy We collect limited information about web visitors and use cookies on our website to provide you with the most optimal experience. 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To learn more about our web site privacy practices, please review VCU's privacy statement I agree Consenting to VCU's privacy policy requires the use of Javascript Please enable Javascript functionality in your browser so you do not see this message again “I’m grateful to have the support to continue my music education and I have been inspired to someday create my own scholarship fund I want to have the same profound impact on others that this opportunity has had on me.” Zaiendae Smith (Class of 2021)Recipient of the Beverly J Spokane Fire Department officials were unable to determine the cause of the fire that led to the deaths of a woman and her two dogs Wednesday on the South Hill but none were operational at the time of the fire according to a fire department news release Thursday Investigators said the fire started in the front room of the home the large number of contents within the room there was insufficient information to identify a cause conclusively,” the release said according to the department’s original release said a couple nearby noticed the flames and tried knocking on the door of the house to make sure everyone escaped Firefighters said they pulled the woman and her two dogs from the fire within 10 minutes of their arrival The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office said it is working to confirm the woman’s identity The woman who lived in the house had taken over the property from her mother after she moved into a retirement community a few years ago A fire at the 27th Avenue home nearly two years ago was caused by an unattended candle in the living room The fire department stressed the importance of working smoke alarms and said they should be tested twice a year Residents should also check the manufacturer’s date on their alarms I agree A 33-year-old Puyallup-area man is suspected of killing his parents last summer and storing their bodies in a fridge or freezer in the garage then agreeing to suicide with his girlfriend according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office identified William Vosler on Friday and ruled their deaths homicides William Vosler died from a stab wound to the chest and blunt force injuries to the head while Eileen Vosler died from multiple stab wounds to her head and neck each died from a gunshot wound to the head according to the medical examiner and Sheriff’s Department Shane Vosler’s death was ruled a suicide but Lee’s manner of death was undetermined The bodies of all four people were discovered Dec. 31 inside a house in the 18900 block of Eastwood Avenue East the house is in the Hillsboro at Silver Creek development “We’re going to be closing this case because we don’t have anyone to charge,” said sheriff’s Deputy Carly Cappetto “The medical examiner’s report is a key piece of evidence and matched up to what we were leaning towards.” She said Shane Vosler is the suspect in his parents’ homicides but it’s unclear if Lee participated in the killings or aided him after the fact Detectives found evidence showing Shane Vosler and Lee “had collaborated suicide” but Lee “had clearly been deceased longer than he had” when the bodies were found Lee’s manner of death was ruled undetermined because “it’s hard to say” from the angle of the bullet wound whether she shot herself or was shot by Vosler The investigation did not turn up a possible motive A neighbor first requested a welfare check on the house’s residents on Dec 23 after she saw William Vosler’s new truck towed from the driveway according to a search warrant filed in Pierce County Superior Court A sheriff’s deputy went to the house but left after his knock went unanswered because there was no evidence at the time of foul play 31 when one of the Voslers’ adult sons broke into the home through a second-story window and discovered a deceased woman’s body in a bedroom Deputies entered the house and found a male’s body on the floor of the master bathroom and notes on the fridge indicating “Time of Death” — presumably for the elder Voslers — in July William and Eileen Vosler “weren’t very involved in the community” and had minimal contact with people outside their home which is why their deaths went unnoticed for so long “The son and his girlfriend were living in that home for six months before any of this was discovered,” she said Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser by Jackie Kent — Police are investigating yet another early-morning mall break-in Puyallup police report the thieves got away after stealing jewelry from a kiosk inside the South Hill Mall and police said detectives are looking at this case from all angles Lee Smith has been running Urbanity clothing stores in Bellevue and Tukwila for a combined 15 years He said it wasn't until crime ramped up over the past two years that he started locking up his merchandise to prevent shoplifting at both locations he explained even these lengthy measures aren't always enough "We had a $1,000 hoodie stolen a couple of months ago we’ve had plenty of runouts," Smith stated about a recent incident at the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila He was frustrated to learn of yet another small business targeted by crooks at Puyallup's South Hill Mall Police confirmed multiple suspects forced their way into the locked mall around 6:30 a.m where they fired rounds into display cases and got away with an undisclosed amount of jewelry Smith believes this latest case could be connected to a series of mall break-ins across Puget Sound in recent months Sneak City Owner Anastasia Hall detailed a similar theft targeting her Lynnwood business in January Someone shot through the front doors of the Alderwood Mall then through the high-end sneakers store entrance to get away with pricey merchandise [the suspect] needs to be caught so that no other store in the area is dealing with the stuff that we are," Hall told KOMO News The suspects fled South Hill and were last seen near the regal movie theatre The South Hill Mall's corporate communications director told KOMO News that officials are reviewing their security practices to see if anything could have been done to prevent this latest break-in Want to get the lowdown on KCRW’s highest spin counts delivered directly to your inbox? Sign up now for some real nerdy fun the S/H/E’s third LP EARTHBREAKS is due on Mar More: The South Hill Experiment: KCRW Live From HQ New and notable: Tunde Adebimpe’s reflective “Drop,” Franc Moody’s ebullient “Space Between Us,” and Black Country New Road’s bombastic “Besties.” so your donation is critical to KCRW's music programming Anne Litt shares her take on the week in KCRW music FLASH SALE: Snag The OG Black Zip-Up designed by LA artist Chuy Hartman— inspired by the 24/7 service we provide to the LA community ends tonight Get the latest from KCRW in your inbox 3x a week This website is unavailable in your location It appears you are attempting to access this website from a country outside of the United States therefore access cannot be granted at this time An alleged stabbing landed one person in the hospital with life-threatening injuries and a 27-year-old man in handcuffs after a nearly two-hour standoff with police Saturday on the lower South Hill according to the Spokane Police Department Michael Sam was arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault – domestic violence for the alleged stabbing at a brick apartment building at 1631 W Officers responded to the reported stabbing shortly before 10 a.m at the building on Sixth Avenue and Ash Street An adult was taken to the hospital for treatment and once it was determined which apartment unit Sam was in several resources were called to take him into custody K-9 officers and an air support unit were among the units that responded to assist Several apartments were evacuated out of an abundance of caution The Spokane Fire Department and American Medical Response were on standby Police told Sam multiple times he was under arrest but he failed to obey commands to come outside SWAT officers fired a chemical agent into the apartment Officers escorted Sam in handcuffs and sat him down outside the tan-colored building Medical first responders assessed Sam and put him on a gurney Teresa Fuller said Sam was taken to the hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening Sam will be booked into the Spokane County Jail after he is medically cleared The standoff forced nearby streets and Interstate 90 to close who lives in the Sixth Avenue apartment building Connery said he heard someone yelling in the building that morning he was watching TV when he heard Spokane police announce themselves asking the suspect to come out of one of the units with his hands up Connery said he looked through his door peephole and saw police with rifles and shields I’ve seen this story before in this building,” said Connery Connery said there have been several prior domestic violence issues in his building Connery then got a knock at the door from police and was asked to leave the building Connery was one of several neighbors outside who watched the standoff unfold TDS Telecommunications continues expanding its high-speed all-fiber internet network into more Spokane-area neighborhoods had suggested on a whim that they build an igloo to bide the six teen boys’ time while they waited to watch the 2018 comedy action flick “Tag.” which centers on a group of friends playing an annual high -stakes game of tag and Jahir “just thought of it in my brain,” he said they typically make it with blocks cut from deep Spokane may have recently seen its most significant snowfall of the season but the Grand Boulevard boys didn’t have that kind of snow (or knives) to work with so they packed what they could gather from the lawn of Kade and Kobe Simmons into 5-gallon buckets and pressed it themselves Snow buildings are deeply practical for people who have traditionally lived above the Arctic Circle where some of the smaller versions can be thrown together by practiced hands in just a couple hours had never built an igloo before in their lives a blanket or a couch fort,” said Xeke Zaman They tried stacking the cylinders of snow into a rectangular footprint recommended they stick to tradition and make it circular After a couple of adjustments to the original layout the boys were faced with either a problem or a golden opportunity depending on one’s perspective: the igloo was going to be with Dale playing foreman and Kobe spinning tunes as the group DJ so keeping people busy in a good order is sometimes a challenge but these guys could learn something,” Dale said “We talked about bottlenecks for companies When the boys started “harvesting” snow from their neighbors’ lawns packing and passing building material by the bucket when they had to start working the walls inward one would stand on either side to keep the walls stable while they slapped and punched loose snow into place like mortar between the bricks There were times that the monumental task weighed on their morale Dale was happy to encourage the surprisingly large construction project that spawned on his front lawn and everybody’s always on their phone,” he said and I would also be at Finch Arboretum building little dams in the creek except to maybe try to smooth down the interior to remove the innumerable knuckle prints left in the snow or to paint “hieroglyphics” on the inner walls With temperatures slowly climbing and rain likely this weekend the boys’ work may be gone sooner than later It was the last makeup day before school starts back up when the crew met with The Spokesman-Review But with the time they have left with their creation they make plans to light a fire in the center – the roof was never fully sealed