PORT HADLOCK — A homeowner, her three dogs and a cat escaped safely from a fire in a house said to be about a century old in Port Hadlock on Thursday, but they can’t move back in until the dwelling is cleared of smoke and water damage.
The fire, which began at 7:34 a.m., was caused by an overheating computer sitting on a pile of papers and books in the home at the 80 block of Randolph Street, said Bill Beezley, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman.
Firefighters arrived to find smoke billowing from a second-story window in the single-family home and quickly knocked down the flames, Beezley said.
“We made a great save on the house,” he said.
“It will be habitable” after it is cleaned up, but it suffered “significant” smoke damage and water damage, he said.
The homeowner, who was not identified, was put in touch with the Olympic Peninsula Chapter of the American Red Cross for housing assistance.
100 years old
She told firefighters she has owned the home for 23 years and that it was about 100 years old.
The fire department credits a timely response for preventing a larger fire, Beezley said.
According to the first firefighters at the scene, the heat in the second story was “intense,” signaling that a flashover was imminent, Beezley said.
Flashover occurs when combustible material is super-heated and begins emitting flammable gases.
At about 1,100 degrees, virtual spontaneous combustion occurs, enveloping a room in flames, Beezley said.
Three engines and 12 uniformed personnel from East Jefferson Fire-Rescue responded to the fire alarm as well as firefighters from Naval Magazine Indian Island and from Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue.
