Attempt to force out hornets destroys RV in Chimacum

Published 1:30 am Monday, September 11, 2017

CHIMACUM — A man smoking yellow jackets out of an abandoned recreational vehicle near Chimacum accidentally burned down the vehicle, according to a press release from East Jefferson Fire-Rescue.

The man started a fire in the middle of the floor Friday morning to smoke out the wasps and thought he had fully extinguished the fire, said Bill Beezley, spokesperson for East Jefferson Fire-Rescue, calling the fire accidental.

East Jefferson Fire-Rescue responded after a report of a fire in the 400 block of Center Road at 12:05 p.m. Friday. The RV was in a field, and when firefighters arrived it was fully engulfed in flames, according to a press release.

The fire was knocked down in about 27 minutes. Beezley said the RV was in the middle of a field and there wasn’t anything nearby firefighters were concerned the fire could spread to.

The 26-foot-long RV had been unoccupied for more than a year.

The owner of the property the RV was on had hired a man to smoke out yellow jackets that had occupied the RV.

The man started a fire in the RV at about 8 a.m. and thought he fully extinguished it with a fire extinguisher.