CHIMACUM — Six people left homeless by a duplex fire on Beaver Valley Road on Monday evening are now staying with friends and relatives, said a volunteer with the local chapter of the American Red Cross.
The fire reported at about 5:10 p.m. in the 8900 block of Beaver Valley Road near Chimacum Corners destroyed one residence and left the other uninhabitable, said Bill Beezley, spokesman for East Jefferson Fire-Rescue.
Five people were treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation by emergency personnel at the scene after firefighters arrived to find flames streaming from the front and roof of the northern unit of the duplex.
Firefighters quickly knocked down the flames, but not before the residence was destroyed, Beezley said.
The second unit of the duplex suffered extensive smoke and heat damage throughout the shared attic space.
Two cats were killed by smoke, Beezley said.
Beaver Valley Road was shut down in both directions for about an hour while firefighters used a water hydrant across the road from the duplex to battle the flames.
The fire department has reported no determination of the cause of the fire but said residents told them that a votive candle had been left burning in a bedroom where a 4-year-old child was alone.
Adults in the adjoining unit said the child ran to them screaming, “Fire, fire,” followed by the child’s great-grandmother.
Three families were in the two units, Beezley said.
The destroyed unit was occupied by a woman who owned the duplex, her granddaughter, her great-granddaughter and the granddaughter’s boyfriend, said Shirley Williams, a volunteer with the Olympic Peninsula chapter of the American Red Cross, who assisted the family.
“It was very confusing at first and was hard to tell who was who,” Williams said.
The owner’s daughter and her husband lived in the second unit, she said.
Jefferson County Fire District 2 Chief Robert Low is conducting an investigation into the cause of the blaze.
Firefighting units from Indian Island Naval Magazine and Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue assisted in fighting the fire.