Fire fills home near Washougal with smoke

A basement window, cracked by the heat of a long-smoldering fire nearby, managed not to break — and that helped make the difference that saved a home north of Washougal on Monday afternoon, said Fire Chief Scott Koehler with East County Fire & Rescue.

“If that window had broken and let that fire have oxygen, probably within about 15 minutes the whole place would have been fully involved (in flames),” Koehler said.

Late Monday afternoon, the renters of a double-wide manufactured home placed over a basement arrived home, opened a door and found the whole place filled with “black nasty smoke,” Koehler said.

They wisely chose not to go inside, shut the door and called 911. Notified at 4:54 p.m. of the fire at 35827 S.E. 20th St., firefighters from a nearby station arrived in about one minute. Once firefighters had assembled the state-required two to go in — and two to be ready to help them in case of problems like being overcome with smoke — firefighters went inside, found a small fire in a room in the basement and quickly doused it. Later, they used fans to clear the smoke.

The fire could have been smoldering as long as four hours, Koehler said. “They were lucky to come home when they did and catch it when they did,” Koehler said.

In the end, firefighters saved the home, which had little structural damage. But the whole home was filled with black smoke and soot and will require heavy cleaning.

Members of the Washougal and Camas fire departments helped East County at the scene, and the Vancouver Fire Department sent an engine and crew to staff the Fern Prairie station in case of other calls.

Koehler said the residents of the home are renters. It is owned by Jay and Vicki Ponce of Camas, according to county records.

A deputy fire marshal, looking for the cause, was focusing on several electrical appliances plugged in downstairs, but the cause and dollar damage estimate hadn’t been officially reported Monday night.