Two house fires displace people, pets

Fires at two houses in Vancouver’s Ellsworth Springs neighborhood Saturday displaced a total of five people.

Crews with the Vancouver Fire Department responded to the first fire, reported at 217 S.E. 103rd Ave., at about 3:30 p.m., Vancouver Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli said.

The blaze, which was ignited by a faulty wire, resulted in about $39,000 in damage, Scarpelli said. The three adults living in the home were displaced and stayed with friends and relatives, she said.

Crews were called back out minutes later to a fire reported at a house in the same neighborhood.

That fire was reported at 802 S.E. 105th Ave., Scarpelli said.

Two adults inside the house were asleep at the time but a smoke alarm woke them up when the chimney pipe ignited, she said. Two residents and two cats were displaced by the fire, which caused an estimated $164,495 in damage.

Scarpelli said that the residents had never cleaned their chimney and the incident stood as a good reminder that chimneys must be inspected and cleaned annually.