SEQUIM — A 27-year-old man escaped a house fire unhurt with a pet python and ferret late Sunday night, a blaze that destroyed a garage adjoining the rental home at 1040 W. Palo Verde Loop.

A cat in the garage perished in the fire reported at 9:36 p.m. after several neighbors phoned in reports of smelling smoke from Sequim Avenue to North Fifth Avenue and West Washington Street, said Patrick Young, public information officer with Clallam County Fire District No. 3.

Investigators were on the scene Monday to determine the cause of the fire that destroyed the garage and its contents, including a Harley Davidson motorcycle and engine parts.

A car parked near the garage was also destroyed.

The renter inside the home safely evacuated after neighbors alerted him to the fire.

“From what he’s told me is, he was watching TV, and the neighbors banged on his door and told him his house was on fire,” Young said.

The second renter, a 29-year-old male returned to find the fire department on the scene.

The renters’ names were not available Monday.

The value of the loss in the fire was not immediately known.

The fire district was able to contain the flames to the garage in about a half hour, but the home received minor smoke and water damage.

“They stopped it at the fire wall between the garage and the house,” Young said, adding that smoke and water damage occurred in the home when firefighters made sure the blaze would not spread into the attic and the home’s interior.

Both renters said they would stay with family or friends in the Sequim area.

The homeowner said the home was insured, but the renters did not have renter’s insurance.

Fire District No. 3 responded with 10 pieces of equipment and 20 personnel on scene.

Also responding were Olympic Ambulance and Clallam County Public Utility District.

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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2390 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.