HANSVILLE — Five people and a dog are displaced following a house fire off of Hansville Road Friday morning. No injuries were reported.
North Kitsap Fire & Rescue and Poulsbo Fire crews responded to a residential fire at a manufactured home around 11 a.m., on Hansville Road near Old Hansville Road. Four of the five occupants were at home at the time, and reported a fire in one of the bedrooms. According to NKF&R spokeswoman Michele Laboda, the interior was gutted and most of the contents destroyed in the blaze, which is thought to have started with a space heater placed too close to combustible items.
The crew reported flames visible outside the house, and dense black smoke pouring from the home’s eaves. Firefighters were able to stop the fire in the room quickly; however, as indicated by the smoke seen on arrival, the fire had spread into tough-to-reach attic spaces. Control of the remaining flames overhead proved more difficult.
Laboda said the residents reported they couldn’t get the bedroom door to stay closed, and while evacuating left the backdoor open. Laboda said that while it’s common for those in a fire to leave doors open, closing the doors between the fire and the rest of the structure actually slows the growth of the fire.
The occupants told firefighters that they’d all been sleeping when one young man heard unusual noises coming from within one of the other bedrooms. He and his father investigated the source and opened the door of a fifth occupant’s room to find it ablaze. The young man’s facial hair was singed by the heat and the father’s hand was scorched in an unsuccessful attempt to close the burning room’s door. Both men declined medical treatment.
They woke the other occupants, collected the mid-sized dog from inside, evacuated the residence and called 911. The fifth occupant had left for work at 10 a.m. but returned home upon learning of the incident shortly after 11 a.m.
An investigator from the Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the scene and, after examining the evidence and talking with the occupants, determined that a portable space heater most likely sparked the fire when it was placed or fell too close to combustible items. Open doors contributed to the fire’s rapid spread.
Heating devices caused nearly one-fifth of all residential fires in 2010, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Space heaters were responsible for almost a third of all home heating fires. Among the many tips for avoiding home heating fires, officials emphasize keeping anything that can burn at least three feet away from heat-producing devices and, also, turning off portable heaters whenever leaving the room or going to bed.
The homeowner is one of the five occupants. It is unknown if the home was insured. Volunteers from the American Red Cross also responded to the scene, and are assisting the men with temporary lodging and other necessities. There were no injuries to firefighters.
