At least one family was displaced after a fire destroyed a home on Swantown Road on North Whidbey Friday morning.

“It had flames coming out of pretty much every window when I pulled up,” said North Whidbey Fire and Rescue Chief John Clark, who was first to arrive at the scene after the call came in at 10:33 a.m.

No one was injured.

The fire torched the 1,200-square-foot home, an adjacent garage and a pick-up trailer with a camper, he said. Flames also scorched another vehicle on the property.

The cause of the fire did not seem suspicious, although Clark stressed it is still under investigation. Results should be in sometime next week, he said.

Clark called in firefighters from North Whidbey Fire and Rescue, the Oak Harbor Fire Department and the Navy’s firefighting unit. There were about 20 firefighters in total plus a team of paramedics.

At first, Clark said, some people thought there might be someone inside the structures. Crews did find a dog but “broke the lock and got him out” of the garage, he said.

It took several hours for firefighters to put out the remaining hot spots since the roof caved in; crews left the scene at 3 p.m.

Deputies with the Island County Sheriff’s Office and troopers with the Washington State Patrol, along with Oak Harbor police officers, pursued someone who was allegedly seen fleeing the burning house. Clark said he did not know why law enforcement was interested in the person but that there was a separate investigation.

“There are some other problems at that property, some ongoing issues with law enforcement,” he said.

The fire chief stressed that the cause of the fire did not seem suspicious and that the person did not appear to be involved with the origin of the fire.

Multiple agencies responded to a house fire on Swantown Road in Oak Harbor Friday morning. North Whidbey Fire and Rescue Chief John Clark said the cause is still under investigation, but did not appear to be suspicious. Photo by John Fisken

Multiple agencies responded to a house fire on Swantown Road in Oak Harbor Friday morning. North Whidbey Fire and Rescue Chief John Clark said the cause is still under investigation, but did not appear to be suspicious. Photo by John Fisken