KINGSTON – A Jefferson Beach Estates family lost their home and most of their possessions in a fast-moving fire Aug. 7.

Those inside had just moments to spare when alerted to the danger by smoke alarms, North Kitsap Fire & Rescue spokeswoman Michele Laboda reported. “They evacuated with only the clothes on their backs, their pets and their cell phones,” she reported.

A fire investigator was on scene into the early evening, but the cause had not been determined, Laboda reported.

North Kitsap Fire & Rescue, Poulsbo Fire Department and Puget Sound Federal Fire Department crews were dispatched at 1:09 p.m.  to the Virginia Avenue home after multiple 9-1-1 callers reported flames and smoke from the two-story house.

The first unit arrived on scene in just under 8 minutes, coming from NKF&R’s South Kingston Road station; upon their arrival, the officer reported that over half of the 1,990-square-foot structure was involved in flames. Using a fire hydrant directly across the street, crews were able to get water on the blaze quickly and had the main body of fire out within 20 minutes of their arrival.

“Firefighters kept the blaze from spreading beyond the house where it began, and no other structures were damaged though a truck stored in the garage was destroyed,” Laboda reported.

“Complete extinguishment of the fire proved far more difficult. The large volume of items inside the home provided fuel to the fire and complicated firefighters’ efforts to reach deep-seated hot spots.  Furthermore, the heavy fire had so severely undermined the structure that crews could not safely operate inside. Firefighters, doing what they could from the outside, worked to snuff hot spots until early evening.”

Power was cut off to the home as well as to three other residences, and Virginia Avenue was blocked in both directions for several hours.

Two of the occupants – a couple – were upstairs in their bedroom at the time of the incident. Upon hearing activated smoke alarms, they opened the bedroom door to investigate and found heavy smoke coming up the stairs. Meanwhile, a neighbor working on his roof spotted the flames and smoke coming from the home. He shouted to his family to call 9-1-1; the man’s son headed to the burning home to see if he could help. Heat and smoke kept him from entering through the home’s back door. Shortly thereafter, the couple and their dogs safely escaped.

The home’s two other occupants – the couple’s adult son and his girlfriend – had gone out to brunch and returned to find the home and their things ablaze.

The family, who is insured, is staying with relatives in the neighborhood. There were no injuries to firefighters or civilians.

NKF&R Firefighters Brandon Robichaux, left, and Kaleb Murray, center, work to squelch remaining embers after a fast-moving fire gutted a family’s Jefferson Beach home Aug. 7.

An NKF&R firefighter gets instructions from an officer during a fire that destroyed a family’s home Aug. 7 in Jefferson Beach.