Spokane — An 85-year-old man died Saturday while burning tumbleweeds on his Liberty Lake property.
Spokane Valley Fire Department firefighters were dispatched shortly before noon to 2415 N. Sunrise Lane, near the Idaho border, for a brush fire, said Jeff Smetzler, fire department spokesman.
They found the man had been burned, and he died at the scene.
Smetzler said tumbleweeds and brush collected against the man’s fence, and the man, whose identity was not released, typically burns them each year. He said the man was using a torch to burn the weeds Saturday when the fire flared up and ignited the man’s flammable pants and quickly consumed his clothing.
The torch the man was using did not malfunction and did not cause the death, Smetzler said. The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the cause of death.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire. The fire department is investigating.
