Burglar alarm reports Ridgefield-area fire

Firefighters were called early Friday morning to a residence east of Ridgefield after the smoke and heat from a kitchen fire tripped the house’s burglar alarm.

Units from Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue and Clark County Fire District 3 were dispatched at 12:11 a.m. for a report of a house fire at 24317 N.E. 37th Ave.

Clark County sheriff’s deputies had responded to the residence first for a burglar alarm. Upon arrival, they found smoke in the residence and called for firefighters to respond, according to a Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue news release.

Deputies did not find any signs of forced entry into the house. The residence has a monitored burglar alarm system but no fire alarm system, the news release said.

Fire crews found the house full of hot, dense smoke and high heat. They searched the residence but determined no one was home, according to Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue.

The fire was located in the kitchen and extinguished, and crews vented the smoke and heat. Although the fire was contained to the kitchen, the entire house suffered significant heat and smoke damage, the news release said. There were no injuries.

A total of 17 fire personnel responded, including four fire engines, two ladder trucks, one battalion chief, two water tenders and one fire marshal. The Vancouver Fire Department assisted.

The cause is being investigated by the Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office.