FORKS — Firefighters rescued a man and a dog from a burning home before the roof collapsed early Wednesday morning.
Rede Dunlap was fast asleep when the fire broke out, probably in the chimney, at about 4 a.m., said Randy Messenbrink, deputy chief of the Clallam County Fire District No. 1.
Dunlap was house-sitting for the owners — his sister Helen Medley and her husband Darrell Medley — who were out of town, Messenbrink said.
Forks Police Department officers, the first to arrive at the home near the intersection of Mayberry Street and Tillicum Avenue, pounded on windows and yelled, but Dunlap didn’t rouse.
Not sure who, if anyone, was in the house, Officer Chad Lisk held his breath and ducked inside for a closer look, but the thick smoke forced him out before he found any occupants, said Forks Police Chief Mike Powell.
It wasn’t until firefighters broke a window in the bedroom where Dunlap slept that he awakened.
