HANSVILLE — An 800-square-foot waterfront cabin was destroyed and a man was transported to a local hospital after a fire of undetermined origin early Jan. 11 on the northernmost tip of the Kitsap Peninsula.
Firefighters’ initial response was delayed because there was no road access to the structure and there were warnings about responder safety associated with the address, North Kitsap Fire & Rescue spokeswoman Michele Laboda reported.
According to sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Scott Wilson, the resident of the cabin is believed to be “undergoing some mental challenges” and had made threats in several 911 calls, beginning at 2:45 a.m.
“After the scene was secured by deputies from the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office, 12 firefighters made their way to the cabin by trekking over half-mile across the beach and using water supplied by a fire boat,” Laboda reported. “An investigator from the Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s Office has also responded to the scene and begun the effort to find the origin and cause of the blaze.”
North Kitsap Fire & Rescue and Poulsbo Fire Department crews were called to the 40000th block of Foulweather Bluff Road at 4:55 a.m. A neighbor reported seeing flames and hearing a man yelling from the beach below the bluff.
“Crews, also challenged along the way by icy roads, couldn’t attempt immediate access but instead staged near the address due to the reported threats against emergency responders,” Laboda reported.
The first officers to arrive found the building fully involved in flames. With only a dangerously narrow and unimproved switchback trail stretching thousands of feet from the bluff to the beach, crews sought alternatives to reach the fire, Laboda reported. A crew responded in NKF&R’s new fire-rescue boat from the Port of Kingston Marina while other firefighters used Twin Spits Road to access the beach for the long hike to the scene. Poulsbo Fire personnel trailered an off-road vehicle from their Poulsbo headquarters to help ferry firefighters and equipment across the long distance. Crews used sea water supplied by the marine unit to fully extinguish the fire.
The man was transported by Poulsbo Fire paramedics to Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton with injuries that were thought to be serious but not immediately life-threatening, Laboda reported. This is the first emergency response for NKF&R’s new fire-rescue vessel. The 38-foot boat, funded largely by a federal Department of Homeland Security Port Security grant, was delivered in November but won’t officially enter service until later this month when crews have completed training and mechanics have finished equipping it, Laboda reported.
“Three fully trained personnel happened to be available this morning to respond with the new asset,” Laboda reported. “Powered by twin 300-hp outboard motors, the vessel can make the trip from Kingston to the entrance of Hood Canal in about 25 minutes. The district plans to officially welcome the boat in a February public event.” Crews cleared the fire scene shortly after 10 a.m. There were no other injuries to firefighters or civilians. No cause has yet been determined, and it is unknown if the home is insured, Laboda reported.
NKF&R firefighters use hoses deployed from the district’s new fire-rescue boat and water from Hood Canal to battle a fire in a cabin that had no useable road access or fire hydrants nearby. Michele Laboda / NKF&R
Aided by daylight, NKF&R firefighters snuff remaining hot spots in the remains of a difficult-to-reach cabin that burned near Hansville. Michele Laboda / NKF&R
