No active smoke detectors in believed accidental fire that engulfed Clallam Co. mobile home
Combustible materials by the fireplace may have led to an accidental fire that completely engulfed a mobile home in Clallam on Saturday, said Fire-Rescue personnel.
At 9:19 a.m., Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue went to a mobile home fire near the intersection of 4th Avenue and Beech Street in the Gales Addition area.
Initial reports said the house was completely engulfed.
When units got there, they could see a column of smoke from the area and requested mutual aid from the City of Port Angeles Fire Department.
The two on-duty firefighters from the Fire Station 21 Gales Addition crew responded immediately. Career and volunteer personnel also responded from home or work.
When Engine 21 got there the captain said there was a large fire at a single-wide mobile home.
Personnel confirmed that the two people in the house had escaped the fire uninjured before crews arrived.
The first fire engine crew began knocking the fire down from the outside of the house. When more personnel got there, they went into the house to completely extinguish the fire and make sure no one else was inside.
There were two cats in the house but they were found dead.
Crews were able to fully extinguish the fire and any remaining smoldering spots in the house.
The people who lived there said that there was no power in the house and when they came out of their bedroom, noticed a fire down the hallway from the front of the house.
Upon initial investigation, it appeared the fire started around a fireplace which was the only heat source. There were combustible materials around the fireplace that likely ignited the fire which spread to other materials in the house.
There were no active smoke detectors reported.
Personnel said the fire seemed to be an accident.
Red Cross was contacted to provide emergency housing for the two people. Once the fire was put out, the home was returned to the occupants. Crews cleared the scene around 11:30 a.m.
Clallam 2 Fire-Rescue responded with two fire engines, one water tender, and two command vehicles with a total of 14 personnel. The Port Angeles Fire Department responded with one fire engine and one command vehicle with a total of three personnel. Olympic Ambulance responded with one ambulance and two personnel to provide standby and evaluation of firefighters. Clallam County PUD and Clallam County Sheriff’s Office deputies also responded to the scene
