Condo suffers from smoking
By JESSIE STENSLAND
Whidbey News Times Assistant editor
June 23, 2009 · 1:46 PM
Discarded cigarettes apparently started a fire that caused about $20,000 damage to an Oak Harbor condominium Saturday afternoon, according to the Oak Harbor Fire Department.
Battalion Chief Ray Merrill said the residents of a duplex condo on NW Falls Creek Loop noticed smoke coming out from under their home just about the time the smoke alarms went off. They called 911 just after 3 p.m.
The couple sprayed water into the crawl space, which Merrill said contained the blaze and stopped it from spreading into the living areas.
Firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire in the floor rafters. They pulled out the insulation from the crawl space and “overhauled” the fire to make sure it was dead.
The Oak Harbor Fire Department responded with two engines and the Navy Region Northwest Fire and Emergency Services sent a ladder truck from the base.
Merrill said the couples who live in the condo and the adjoining unit were able to occupy the homes after the fire was out.
Merrill said the fire started from “discarded smoking material in a plastic container on a patio next to the house.”
Contact Whidbey News Times Assistant editor Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360.675.6611 ext. 5056.Comment on this story.
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