A Kingston family was displaced by a fire in the attic of their Glavin Road home last Sunday. The cause of the fire has since been determined to be the result of the recent heavy snowfall.

The family and their pets managed to escape the blaze without injury after another family member saw flames coming from the house as he was returning home. The first unit responded to the fire in just under eight minutes, shortly after 8:30 p.m. With the closest fire hydrant over 2,000 feet away, crews used water tender trucks to contain the blaze.

According to a press release from North Kitsap Fire & Rescue, a damaged chimney assembly compromised by the weight of recent snow bowing the roof of the home is thought to be the cause of the fire.

“The aging equipment, installed about 40 years ago, was most likely already weakened when last week’s snow further damaged the roof and the chimney,” the release reads. “The home’s occupants told officials that they’d had a fire going in the wood stove all day. The [Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s Office] investigator believes that heat escaped from the compromised chimney to ignite adjacent combustible materials in the home’s attic, spreading undetected until flames became visible from the outside.”

Officials recommend that chimneys be cleaned and inspected annually by certified professionals.