Kingston couple displaced when trailer burns

A woman sleeping inside only had moments to escape but no one was injured when a Kingston couple’s 30-foot travel-trailer home and most of their possessions burned Tuesday.

North Kitsap Fire & Rescue crews were called to the trailer park off Ritter Lane near its intersection with Highway 104 at 7:58 a.m. Although the first unit arrived in less than four minutes, and crews had water on the fire within five minutes, the heat typical of recreational vehicle fires had already done serious damage. The trailer and its contents are likely a total loss.

The woman told firefighters that her husband left for work at about 7 a.m. She was awakened by the sound of glass breaking. She opened the sliding door between the small bedroom and the living room/kitchen area to find flames. She grabbed her phone, and fled through the exterior door before calling 9-1-1.

No one reported hearing the fire alarm.

“Without a smoke alarm sounding an early warning, it’s fortunate that the woman awakened in time to escape the fire,” NKF&R spokeswoman Michele Laboda said, adding the chances of surviving a home fire are doubled with working smoke alarms.

An investigator from the Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s Office responded. He believes the fire was accidental and started in the area of the trailer’s propane-fired heater.

The trailer was not insured. The American Red Cross is assisting the couple.