Unattended ashtray may have been cause of house fire in Port Townsend

Published 12:01 am Friday, June 19, 2015

PORT TOWNSEND — Firefighters quickly extinguished a house fire Wednesday afternoon that may have been started by an unattended makeshift ashtray.

Both occupants of the home were away when the fire started at the structure in the 700 block of 27th Street, said Patricia Willestoft, acting spokeswoman for East Jefferson Fire Rescue..

Alerted at 1:54 p.m., Willestoft said firefighters found flames on the deck, with the blaze beginning to extend into the living room

She said the fire was extinguished in 18 minutes.

Cause of the fire was under investigation, but the source of the blaze is tentatively thought to be the unattended makeshift ashtray on the deck, Willestoft said.

A woman living in the house told firefighters she had gone to a neighbor’s when she noticed dark brown smoke coming from her residence.

She rushed home and called 9-1-1.

East Jefferson Fire Rescue’s crews were assisted by firefighters with Naval Magazine Indian Island and Quilcene Fire Rescue.

District 2 and Discovery Bay fire departments provided station coverage while others were fighting the fire.