July 5, 2022 4:00 a.m.

A couple escaped a house fire in Green early Monday.

Battalion Chief Scott Richardson of Douglas County Fire District No. 2 said just after 12:30 a.m. crews from the district and from Winston Dillard Fire District responded to the 4000 block of Hanna Street for a reported garage fire. Several callers said the structure was on fire but didn’t know if anyone was still inside. Richardson said firefighters arrived on the scene within a few minutes to find a single-story home with heavy fire and smoke coming from the garage. Crews located the homeowners who had escaped out the back of their home. The couple said their dog had woke them up but they couldn’t make it out the front of the house due to the fire.

Richardson said crews made an aggressive attack and quickly extinguished the fire. Firefighters remained on scene to overhaul and completely extinguish the fire.

A release said the cause of the fire was most likely due to discarded fireworks that were used a few hours earlier. Pacific Power, Avista Utilities, and the Red Cross assisted at the scene.

Richardson said the fire district recommends having a bucket of water and/or a fire extinguisher nearby when fireworks are being used. Once fireworks are cool and ready to be discarded, first soak them in a bucket of water overnight and leave the bucket outside, away from vegetation and structures.