Family escapes kitchen fire

A man, woman and two small children alerted by a working smoke detector escaped their Vancouver Heights duplex Tuesday night after oil burning on a stove ignited the unit’s kitchen.

The man was preparing dinner when he left the kitchen to check on his daughters, ages 1 and 2. That’s when the alarm sounded and the family fled the home, located at 410 Council Bluffs Way.

The oil had boiled over the edge of the pan and made contact with the burner, said Jim Flaherty, a spokesman for the Vancouver Fire Department. Two other children were not home at the time.

“The kitchen was essentially destroyed,” Flaherty said.

The fire was reported at 7:39 p.m. and firefighters reached the scene six minutes later.

From outside, the man used a hose and “knocked it down a little bit,” Flaherty said of the fire. The blaze was mostly out when firefighters reached the scene, but Flaherty said “we extinguished some minor active fire.”

Damage was estimated at $10,000.

No injuries were reported.

The lesson, Flaherty said, is “if it’s cooking, you should be with it. If you leave, it should come off the burner.”