Snohomish County Fire District 1

Firefighters battled a stubborn fire that destroyed a home near Martha Lake in Snohomish County on Dec. 20.
 
A passerby reported the fire at a single-story home in the 100 block of Meadow Pl. SE at 9:13 a.m. “Despite icy road conditions, firefighters were on the scene in six and a half minutes. They arrived to find heavy black smoke coming from the house and flames visible inside,” said Leslie Hynes, public information officer for Snohomish County Fire District 1.

The homeowner, a man in his 50s, was away at the time of the fire. There were no injuries.

Firefighters could not enter the house to fight the fire because the roof was in danger of collapse and contents blocked access through windows and doors.

“Firefighters attacked the fire from outside and quickly brought the fire under control. However, they couldn’t extinguish the fire completely because they couldn’t get inside the house,” Hynes said. “So they made the decision to keep the fire at bay until a backhoe could be called in to remove the debris so they could gain access to the smoldering fire inside.”

A county backhoe arrived around noon and by 1:30 p.m. had cleared away debris to allow firefighters to put out the fire.

Firefighters also had cold-weather challenges to deal with at the fire scene. “They had to bleed hose lines every five minutes to prevent freezing. Even with that, we had slush form in some hose lines,” Hynes said.

An investigator from the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s office determined the fire was started by a short in the electrical system.

The house is a total loss. The homeowner had 10 cats – firefighters located two that died as a result of the fire; the others were unaccounted for.

The Snohomish County Chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting the homeowner, who did not have insurance.

This was the second fire of the day for firefighters in Fire District 1, which serves unincorporated south Snohomish County and the cities of Mountlake Terrace and Brier. At 3:40 a.m., firefighters responded to a fire in a travel trailer at the Hayloft RV Park in the 15300 block of 35th Ave. W.

The trailer was unoccupied and up for sale. No one was injured.

The Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s office investigated and determined the cause of the fire was an electrical problem. The loss is estimated at $15,000. The trailer owner has insurance.

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Snohomish County Fire District 1 firefighters made sure Santa Claus arrived safely at their Lake Serene Fire Station neighborhood party on Dec. 13.

This was the 15th year firefighters have hosted the party for neighborhood children. Santa Claus always seems to have a mishap on the way to the party that requires the aid of firefighters, and this year was no exception. About 40 children and their parents attending the party listened to the station’s radio speakers as a dispatcher called out the firefighters to rescue Santa Claus when the flux capacitor on his sleigh went out and caused him to land at Serene Lake Elementary School instead of the fire station.
 
Firefighters boarded the engine and went to Santa’s aid. Children lined up in front of the station to welcome Santa as he arrived aboard the fire engine to join them for the party. As he handed out gifts, Santa assured all the children the flux capacitor would be back in working order in time for his Christmas Eve trip around the world.

The Lake Serene Fire Station is one of eight stations staffed by Fire District 1, which provides fire and emergency medical services to more than 160,000 residents of unincorporated areas of south Snohomish County and the cities of Mountlake Terrace and Brier.

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