PORT GAMBLE – Firefighters from across North Kitsap responded to a State Route 104 address after multiple passersby reported flames in the sky from a large detached barn.

When they arrived on the scene they found the property owner had illegally started the fire to dispose of the unwanted outbuilding.

Crews from North Kitsap Fire & Rescue and Poulsbo Fire Department were dispatched to the property on Port Gamble Bay, near SR 104’s intersection with  Waterview Way and across from Gracey Nursery, just before 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 15. The first unit arrived in about seven minutes and found the old 20- by 40-foot structure engulfed in flames and collapsed onto the ground. Adjacent trees were also catching fire.

The property owner told firefighters that he no longer needed the structure and had removed all items from inside before setting the 60- to 70-year-old building on fire.

The blaze grew faster than he expected, he said. Firefighters quickly squelched the fire and prevented the flames from spreading further into the trees. It took another hour to fully extinguish the embers in the remains of the old structure.

SR 104 was limited to one lane of travel while crews worked.

An investigator from the Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s Office also responded to the scene. That office imposed an outdoor burn ban on Aug. 19 because of high fire danger. The ban, which ended later Sept. 16, prohibited all outdoor burning, except recreational fires of dry seasoned wood or charcoal in designated fire pits less than 3 by 3 by 2 feet.

Whether there’s a burn ban in effect or not, it is never legal in Kitsap County to burn anything except natural vegetation without a special permit, fire officials said.

There were no injuries to firefighters or civilians.