700 pounds of fireworks at center of fire, explosion investigation

Published 1:30 am Friday, June 26, 2026

Investigators have not determined the cause of the fire and explosion that injured three firefighters, may have injured two residents and damaged two neighboring homes in Greenbank on Wednesday, and it remains unclear whether criminal charges will be considered.

About 700 pounds of fireworks were inside the home on Smugglers Cove Road, according to Kolton Kellison, a firefighter with Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue. A “large explosion” shortly after firefighters arrived, threw one “into a truck” and knocked another to the ground, he said.

All three firefighters were hospitalized but have been released as of Friday morning, South Whidbey Fire/EMS Chief Nick Walsh confirmed. One of the firefighters was in danger of losing a finger, but will end up keeping all of them, he added.

While their names are not being revealed at this time, a release from Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue states the firefighters belong to their department and to South Whidbey Fire/EMS.

Two residents may also have been injured, but Kellison could not describe the severity of their injuries.

A caller reported the fire at about 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, according to a release from Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue. Crews began overhaul operations around 5 p.m.

KING 5 reported that a cigarette may have been a catalyst in the fire and explosion. Officially, the cause and origin of the fire and explosion are still unknown as of Friday, although the initial phase of the investigation is complete according to the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

Region 3 Arson Task Force is conducting the investigation in coordination with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, a federal agency. According to its release, the Sheriff’s Office will continue the investigation once the cause and origin of the fire are determined.

A “few” unexploded “items” remained at the scene Thursday morning, Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue Chief Jerry Helm said.

Almost nothing remains of the home at 3670 Smugglers Cove Road, which was leveled by the fire and explosion. Debris was scattered across the street. The fire spread to a neighboring home, causing significant damage, while a third house sustained damage from the blast.

Wednesday’s events displaced Tanya Hernandez and her two family members, and they had to stay in her truck Wednesday night. A GoFundMe is raising money for their lodging, food and other necessities; the Red Cross is providing assistance as well, she added.

Hernandez, the co-founder of Queen Bee Pantry in Langley, which has been temporarily closed since May due to flooding, said it feels odd being on the receiving end of others’ generosity. She described Wednesday’s events as “crazy,” an “emotional rollercoaster.”

When she got home around Wednesday afternoon, she recalled seeing smoke emitting from her neighbor’s home and called 911. Firefighters rescued her dogs once they arrived — fireworks “popping” made it too dangerous to do so herself.

Firework deliveries to her neighbor’s home have drawn Hernandez and her neighbors’ attention in the past. A truck dropped off pallets of fireworks there this time last year, Hernandez said, and she learned on Thursday that four pallets had been dropped off more recently. Another resident on that street, Carol Lewellen, saw a pallet delivered earlier on Wednesday.

Hernandez briefly entered her home with an escort to collect clothing and the like, once it was safe to do so. That is when she noticed the explosion had broken her home’s windows and shook the meat out of her freezer. A friend who lives on another street behind Hernandez told her the explosion shook her house so hard that things hanging on her walls fell off.

Other neighbors attested to the intensity of the fire, the explosion and firework detonations.

Lewellen heard loud, repeated explosions while knitting on her front porch. She compared the sound to engine backfiring.

“All of a sudden I heard another big kaboom, and that’s when I looked over and saw just the big, huge black cloud of smoke,” she said.

Steven Ulibarri-Kearney, another witness to the fire, described the home as completely “burned down.” White smoke, which turned black, emitted from the home, and he heard what sounded like a “large stockpile” of fireworks detonate. Eventually, a “particularly loud explosion” occurred which “shook the ground,” he said.

Public safety agencies from across the island responded to the incident.

North Whidbey Fire and Rescue, Navy Fire, the Langley Police Department and the Island County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident Wednesday, in addition to fire departments from Central and South Whidbey.

A portion of Smugglers Cove Road which Island County Public Works closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic on Thursday is now reopened, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The Greenbank fire was not the first fireworks-related house fire on Whidbey Island. On June 17, 2025, North Whidbey resident Mark Fakkema was killed in an explosion that destroyed his parents’ Strawberry Point Road home. According to the Island County Sheriff’s Office and a federal ATF investigation, Fakkema had been dismantling commercial-grade fireworks in his kitchen to make his own devices.

Those with photos and videos of the fire and explosion are being asked to submit them to the Sheriff’s Office, and can do so through a link posted on its Facebook page.