Fire damages Carter Park-area rental home

A fire that appeared to start in a grill spread to the side of a rental home in the Carter Park neighborhood Wednesday night.

Firefighters were called to the Sunset Terrace Apartments, 3102 Kauffman Ave., shortly before 10 p.m.

Mike Decker, the home’s tenant, said his young daughter was over that evening, and they had settled in to watch television.

“I look in the back and there was a small, little fire,” where he keeps his grill, he said.

He tried to put it out, but it spread to quickly. He’s lived there for five years, he said, and often uses the grill on weekends. But the grill was off, so he was unsure what might have happened.

“It was definitely from the barbecue, I just don’t know how,” he said.

Everyone got out safe, he said, but three of his four cats were still unaccounted for after the fire.

No flames were visible, and the fire appeared to be largely under control, by around 10:30 p.m. Firefighters spent about three hours at the scene.

Decker said he planned to stay with family. The American Red Cross said it provided assistance to three people affected b the fire.

The Vancouver Fire Marshal’s Office was investigating what happened.