Expensive home destroyed; occupant hospitalized for burns

PORT TOWNSEND — A 45-year-old man seriously injured in a house fire Saturday morning was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The unidentified man suffered burns on his arms, torso and face, as well as serious smoke inhalation, said Bill Beezley, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman.

The Cape George home at the 41 block of North Palmer Drive was destroyed by the fire, reported at 5:50 a.m.

The cause of the blaze was unknown Saturday.

East Jefferson declined to provide the man’s name.

A phone listing showed Raphael R. Specht as the occupant.

The single-story home was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived about seven minutes later, Beezley said.

Beezley said the man, despite his injuries, had attempted to fight the blaze with a garden hose.

The other occupant, identified as the man’s mother, was not injured.

The home’s remote location on the bluffs overlooking Discovery Bay hampered firefighters’ attempts to fight the blaze from all sides, Beezley said.

Twenty-two firefighters from East Jefferson, Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue, and Navy Magazine Indian Island responded.

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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.

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