A body has been recovered from the scene of a fire northwest of Poulsbo early Monday.
Firefighting efforts to battle that house fire, along with another, were hampered because of weather and road conditions – plus they happened at almost the same time, Poulsbo fire chief Jim Gillard says in a news release.
In the Sawdust Hill neighborhood, one man died and another hospitalized after fire destroyed a home. The survivor first went to St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale, but then was transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
At 4:43 a.m., North and Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue teams, along with Bainbridge Island Fire Department, responded to Sawdust Hill, hindered by slippery roads and fallen trees. Poulsbo Fire was already fighting another blaze.
The first crews to arrive, about 15 minutes after dispatch, reported that a portion of the two-story home had collapsed. With the nearest hydrant miles away, water had to be shuttled by tender trucks. The 2,300-square-foot home is a total loss. Cause is being investigated.
The survivor told investigators that he’d escaped the fire and ran to a neighbor’s home to call 9-1-1. He said that he and his husband were the only occupants at the time of the fire and had been awakened in their second-floor bedroom by smoke alarms before discovering the fire on the first floor.
They both tried to fight the fire. One tried to locate an extinguisher while the other went outside to get a garden hose. The flames kept him from going back inside. He was treated at the scene by NKF&R paramedics.
Gillard emphasized during a fire occupants need to evacuate right away and call 9-1-1.
A little earlier, an unoccupied Viking Avenue home was saved from serious damage thanks to a monitored fire alarm system.
Poulsbo Fire was first called to the automatic alarm on Viking Avenue at 4:27 a.m. The alarm company called the homeowner who was out of town and, in turn, called a neighbor. The neighbor reported the house to be full of smoke. Because of the early warning system, firefighters arrived more quickly and held the fire to the home’s exterior wall. The cause remains undetermined.
All that is left standing is the chimney.
