The Friday morning fire that destroyed a house between Sequim and Port Angeles is one of several building blazes that firefighters on the North Olympic Peninsula have battled since late October.
A condominium building in Port Ludlow, houses in the Sequim and Beaver areas, a former convenience store and the landmark Sappho Junction store have all been damaged or destroyed in accidental fires.
For Clallam County Fire District No. 3, Friday’s fire near Barr Road on U.S. Highway 101 was the second house fire that district crews have fought in a week.
A two-story house on Barnes Road burned down early on the morning of Nov. 27. The home’s two occupants awakened to the smoke and escaped without injury.
District 3 Chief Steve Vogel said this time of year typically sees a lot of structure fires.
“It’s wintertime, and it happens almost every winter,” he said Friday.
“People forget to move items away from heaters, fireplaces are left open; people are using their fireplaces.”
Blankets may fall onto heating units, kids may leave toys next to heaters, or fireplaces may not be properly cleaned or maintained, he said.
Not always the heater
Heating units are not necessarily to blame in the recent fires. The causes of Friday’s fire and the Nov. 27 blaze have not been determined.
The Port Ludlow fire, which destroyed a fourplex and damaged two other buildings at the Admiralty Condominiums complex Thursday morning, may have been caused by a car fire in a garage beneath the complex.
A propane leak is to blame for the Thanksgiving Day blaze, where a small Beaver-area cabin exploded while its owner was away.
On Nov. 10, faulty electrical wires may have contributed to a fire that burned down the former Hiway Market on Highway 101 in Gales Addition east of Port Angeles.
The cause of the Oct. 25 fire that destroyed the Sappho Junction store, at the intersection of Highway 101 and state Highway 113, is undetermined.
Heaters have been the source of at least two smaller fires in Port Angeles homes since late October.