‘It was a nightmare trying to operate in that cold.’ 2 Tri-Cities homes burn overnight
Fire crews worked overnight Wednesday in subzero conditions to put out two house fires that erupted in the Tri-Cities.
One fire in Kennewick was contained to just a bedroom. The other in Richland was a total loss.
Both families have been displaced.
At about 7:50 p.m. on Wednesday night, crews with the Kennewick Fire Department responded to reports of flames coming from an upstairs bedroom on the 5200 block of South Auburn Place.
Firefighters with Pasco Fire Department and Benton County Fire District 1 also responded, and the fire was extinguished in about 20 minutes.
Big thank you goes out to the young man that closed the bedroom door of the room that was on fire this evening on his way out of the house. That act prevented the fire from rapidly spreading to other parts of the home and bought time for KFD crews to arrive. Closed doors help! pic.twitter.com/cujKEhPvcZ
— Fire Chief Chad Michael (@KennewickChief) December 22, 2022
Because fire crews quickly doused the flames and the bedroom door was closed, damage was isolated to just one room. One firefighter suffered a minor injury while working in the house, but did not require medical attention.
A family of four made it safely out of the house but will be without a home for the holidays.
“Fire crews additionally invested substantial effort into placing tarps to help minimize water damage on the first floor of the home, and picked up all of the Christmas gifts under the tree to prevent them from being damaged from the standing water that pooled up,” read a news release from Kennewick Fire Chief Chad Michael.
The fire started when a resident was melting spray foam insulation.
“It was not clear as to what exactly he was working on when this occurred,” said the release.
Richland fire
Another fire destroyed a Richland home early morning Thursday, Richland Fire Chief Tom Huntington said.
Crews responded to the 2000 block of Kuhn Street at about 12:35 a.m. and found a two-bedroom prefabricated house in flames. The structure is considered a total loss.
Benton County Fire District 4 and Pasco Fire Department also responded to help.
Only one person lived in the home, Huntington said. They were able to stay at a friend’s house.
“The cold was a significant operational impact with us this morning,” Huntington said. “It was a nightmare trying to operate in that cold.”
The cause remains under investigation. Huntington said the entire scene is covered in ice, so they can’t investigate how it started yet.
Crews will pick their investigation back up early next week.
