Morning blaze displaces 32 people at Bremerton apartment

BREMERTON – An apartment fire displaced 32 residents at Centennial Apartments in Bremerton April 23. No one was injured, but one person was treated at the scene for a bit of smoke inhalation.

By Chris Tucker • April 23, 2015 5:39 pm

Tags: Bremerton

BREMERTON – An apartment fire displaced about 32 residents at Centennial Apartments in Bremerton April 23. No one was injured, but one person was treated at the scene for a bit of smoke inhalation.

Apartment residents stood in the parking lot – some still in their pajamas and with bare feet – to watch firefighters put out the fire. Bright yellow fire hoses snaked across the ground as firefighters worked near a lower apartment unit that had its windows broken out and smoky markings around the window frame. Smoke billowed from the windows of that unit and the one directly above it.

Capt. John Hawkins with Bremerton Fire Department said the 10-unit “C” block apartment at 2127 12th St. was damaged by fire, smoke and water, but that other buildings in the complex were unaffected.

Hawkins said the cause of the fire was still being investigated. According to Bremerton Fire Department Chief Al Duke, the fire was caused by a pan left on a stove. The blaze was reported around 10:23 a.m. that day.

A bystander at the scene of the fire said he thought the fire came from the stove, and described seeing black smoke. The man said he left his own apartment by jumping over his ground floor balcony.

Hawkins said the apartment that caught fire was unoccupied at the time and that the tenant was away.

Hawkins said that some of the 32 people who were displaced have found places to stay, and that the Red Cross had also offered temporary shelter at a Bremerton church to other residents.

Early police and fire scanner reports indicated that ammunition was stored at the apartments, but Hawkins said the ammunition was stored elsewhere at the apartment complex and was not a concern.

Hawkins said that ammunition in most cases would not explode in fires anyway, and that if it did it would only create small explosions and would not pose much of a threat as a projectile.

One ladder truck, three fire engines and three medic units were used by Bremerton Fire Department to respond to the fire. Navy Region NW firefighters also responded.