PORT HADLOCK — An unfinished log home was allowed to burn to the ground, while firefighters made sure the flames wouldn’t spread, after it caught fire Wednesday night.
The house was uninhabited, and there were no injuries, said Bill Beezley, East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman.
The cause of the fire, discovered at about 6 p.m., is under investigation.
Just before 6 p.m., department firefighters in the area noticed a plume of smoke rising above the trees and drove to the 200 block of Chimacum Creek Road to investigate, while several people called 9-1-1 to report the fire at the same time.
They found the partially completed house fully engulfed in flames.
After determining no one was in the structure, the decision was made to fight the fire defensively — to allow the fire to subside while protecting the area around the house so the flames would not spread.
“This is a safer way to fight a fire once we know there is no one in the structure,” Beezley said.
The firefighters left at about 9 p.m., leaving the building under the supervision of its owners, Beezley said. He did not identify the owners.
Beezley said the building burned to the ground, and that the owners then excavated the site.
The interior was never constructed, and it has been abandoned for several years, according to Beezley.
About 20 firefighters from East Jefferson Fire-Rescue and Naval Magazine Indian Island fought the blaze.
________
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsula
dailynews.com.
