News Briefs

OIL ON STOVE STARTS FIRE

Cooking oil left on a stove was determined to be the cause of a Sept. 4 fire which caused an estimated $100,000 in damage to a four-plex on Campus Hill in Pullman. The oil was left on the stove in a downstairs apartment.

Tony Nuttman, Pullman fire inspector, reported the resident of the apartment said he had placed about two inches of oil in a cooking pot on the stove, turned the heat on high and then left the room. The resident said when he returned to the room the wall near the stove was in flames.

When Pullman fire crews responded to the fire at approximately 3:30 p...