Woman leaves scene of fire
A fire damaged an apartment complex on East Hill Avenue in Moses Lake Saturday night. Photo by Candice Boutilier/Columbia Basin Herald
MOSES LAKE — An apartment on East Hill Avenue in Moses Lake burned as the occupant left without calling for help Saturday night.
A 23-year-old female living in the apartment fell asleep with a lit cigarette in her hand, according to a Moses Lake police record.
Moses Lake police Capt. Dave Ruffin said on Monday it appeared she got scared, wasn’t sure what to do and left the apartment.
The majority of the fire damage was contained in the upstairs portion of the apartment, Moses Lake Assistant Fire Chief Pete Kunjara said. There was minimal damage to the downstairs portion.
Firefighters confined the fire to the single unit and no other units were damaged although part of the complex was evacuated.
Ruffin said there is potential for reckless endangerment charges but doubts criminal charges will be filed.
The female was transported to Samaritan Healthcare for a mental health evaluation and was later released, according to a police record.
Kunjara said there were no injuries.
It’s believed the female has a baby, but the baby was not with her during the night of the fire, he said.
The fire was extinguished after approximately 20 minutes, he said. Firefighters remained at the scene afterward to ensure the fire didn’t spread to the neighboring units.