INDIANOLA – A man lost the home he was building and most of his possessions when a chimney fire spread to involve nearly all of the entire partially-completed structure Feb. 3

North Kitsap Fire & Rescue (NKF&R) and Poulsbo Fire Department crews were called to the address off of Fern Street NE at 7:47 p.m. Feb. 3. Despite very poor road conditions leading to the home, the first crews were able to get to the scene within 12 minutes of dispatch. Firefighters reported the 20-foot by 30-foot, two-story structure to be fully involved in flames. They were able to keep the blaze from spreading to an adjacent fifth-wheel trailer – just ten feet distant – until water tenders arrived and firefighters had adequate water to completely extinguish all hot spots.  The area isn’t served by fire hydrants, so water was shuttled to the scene via tanker trucks.

An investigator from the Kitsap County Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the scene. Given the evidence as well as statements from the man and his son, who lives in another nearby trailer, investigators believe that the woodstove’s single-wall chimney allowed heat to ignite the adjacent structure. No sheetrock had been installed yet, giving flames ready access to plywood sheathing, flooring and wooden structural members.

The man told investigators had been in another part of the house when he smelled something hot and went to investigate. He found the upstairs floor ablaze around the area of the chimney chase. In the course of trying to extinguish the fire, he sustained burns to his hand. He tried to retrieve several objects from the structure and called 911.

The man was transported by a friend to Harrison Hospital in Silverdale where he was treated and released.  The man doesn’t have insurance, and declined assistance from firefighters and the Red Cross. There were no other injuries to firefighters or civilians.