An outbuilding, housing a screen-printing business, suffered significant damage in a North Kitsap fire the morning of Oct. 15.

There was no damage to the property’s nearby principal residence, an NK Fire & Rescue news release states. The cause of the blaze has not yet been determined, but investigators believe it was accidental.

Much of the building and its contents were destroyed but firefighters were able to about one-third of the structure, saving some valuable contents stored there. The business is insured.

Firefighters from Bainbridge Island Fire Department, NKF&R and Poulsbo Fire Department were called to Port Gamble Road at 10:10 a.m. The first units arrived within seven minutes and found smoke coming from the 1,500 square-foot metal pole barn building, up a steep driveway and about 40 yards from the closest building — the property owner’s home.

With no hydrants available, crews used water from the fire engines’ tanks to fight the blaze until the arrival of water tender trucks, per the release. Port Gamble Road was closed near its intersection with Gunderson Road while crews worked.

Firefighters had the blaze under control within 10 minutes of their arrival but spent an additional 90 minutes extinguishing hot spots within the densely packed materials that had been stored inside the building.

The property owner told officials that he’d awakened to find light smoke coming from the outbuilding and went to locate its source. He opened the building’s door and, upon finding smoke and flames inside, called 911. It is unknown how long the fire had been burning; the man said he hadn’t been inside the building since Oct. 13.

Officials ask the public to close doors after discovering a fire in a structure – if it’s safe to do so. Closing doors can deprive a fire of air it needs, slowing its growth, the release states.