POULSBO — The Poulsbo Fire Department responded to an early morning electrical fire March 26 that could have done more damage had it not been for an alert resident.

A passerby noticed flames on the front porch of the Pugh Road residence around 4:30 a.m. Friday and called 911. Crews arrived to find nothing apparent, however, they did find a wall that was still smoldering. Upon further investigation, crews found the fire was burning inside the wall and had spread into the kitchen ceiling.

Crews opened up the walls to locate the fire and quickly extinguished it before any more damage occurred.

Fire officials said the blaze began in the front porch light of the residence and was believed to be electrical in nature.

The home did have smoke alarms, however, the alarm near the kitchen did not work, possibly due to its age or a dead battery, officials said.

There were no injuries to family members or firefighters. The family was not displaced and did not incur any major property loss in the incident.

Officials emphasized that residents need to replace smoke alarms every ten years, replace the batteries every six months (such as during the time changes, like this weekend’s conversion to daylight-saving time) and practice fire escape routes within the home.