Fireworks spark blazes across Wash., damage tops $1 million
SEATTLE - Fireworks are to blame for multiple blazes across Western Washington on Saturday night that caused well over $1 million in damage.
Three homes were destroyed or damaged in Snohomish County and four homes were damaged by fireworks in Covington.
Fire also destroyed a home overnight at Bonney Lake, and heavily damaged a home in Olympia, but the cause of those blazes were not immediately available. A house fire in Seattle also is under investigation.
In addition, a man was seriously injured by a firework thrown from a car in Snohomish County.
And a July 4 celebration near the Red Wind Casino near Yelm was disrupted when a malfunctioning firework landed in the trunk of a car that was loaded with pyrotechnics. Children and families scattered as the fireworks exploded from the car's trunk.
Miraculously, there are no reports of injuries so far in any of the fires.
In Snohomish County, the first house fire was reported by a passer-by at about 10:20 p.m. at a vacant home north of Lynnwood, said Leslie Hynes, spokeswoman for Snohomish County Fire District 1. The loss is estimated at $60,000.
Firefighters just had the fire under control at 11 p.m. when a call came in for a house fire east of Everett in the 4200 block of 105th Place SE. Three people were inside the house watching TV when the fire broke out. The loss is estimated at $150,000.
Then crews got word of another large house fire just two miles to the north at about 12:45 a.m. Sunday at a 4,600-square-foot home in the 9500 block of 36th Avenue SE. The cedar-shake roof and the attic was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. The loss is estimated at least $1 million.
Investigators from the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s office determined all three fires were caused by fireworks.
In Covington, four homes in the 25400 block of 163rd Avenue SE were damaged when fireworks being discharged in the street ignited juniper bushes of a nearby house.
The flames ignited the siding of the two-story house. As flames then spread to the attic space and into the house, other nearby homes became involved. Two of them sustained only minimal damage, but a third home on an adjacent street was more heavily damaged.
The person responsible for starting the fire was identified and cited by Covington police. The fireworks that started the fire were of the legal type, but being discharged in a dangerous manner, police said.
Snohomish County medics also treated a man who was seriously injured by a firework that was thrown at him from a passing car as he walking along a sidewalk in the Mariner neighborhood at 10:05 p.m., Hynes said.
The man sustained serious injuries to his leg when the firework exploded. A woman was also hurt. Both were taken by medics to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
Three homes were destroyed or damaged in Snohomish County and four homes were damaged by fireworks in Covington.
Fire also destroyed a home overnight at Bonney Lake, and heavily damaged a home in Olympia, but the cause of those blazes were not immediately available. A house fire in Seattle also is under investigation.
In addition, a man was seriously injured by a firework thrown from a car in Snohomish County.
And a July 4 celebration near the Red Wind Casino near Yelm was disrupted when a malfunctioning firework landed in the trunk of a car that was loaded with pyrotechnics. Children and families scattered as the fireworks exploded from the car's trunk.
Miraculously, there are no reports of injuries so far in any of the fires.
In Snohomish County, the first house fire was reported by a passer-by at about 10:20 p.m. at a vacant home north of Lynnwood, said Leslie Hynes, spokeswoman for Snohomish County Fire District 1. The loss is estimated at $60,000.
Firefighters just had the fire under control at 11 p.m. when a call came in for a house fire east of Everett in the 4200 block of 105th Place SE. Three people were inside the house watching TV when the fire broke out. The loss is estimated at $150,000.
Then crews got word of another large house fire just two miles to the north at about 12:45 a.m. Sunday at a 4,600-square-foot home in the 9500 block of 36th Avenue SE. The cedar-shake roof and the attic was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived. The loss is estimated at least $1 million.
Investigators from the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s office determined all three fires were caused by fireworks.
In Covington, four homes in the 25400 block of 163rd Avenue SE were damaged when fireworks being discharged in the street ignited juniper bushes of a nearby house.
The flames ignited the siding of the two-story house. As flames then spread to the attic space and into the house, other nearby homes became involved. Two of them sustained only minimal damage, but a third home on an adjacent street was more heavily damaged.
The person responsible for starting the fire was identified and cited by Covington police. The fireworks that started the fire were of the legal type, but being discharged in a dangerous manner, police said.
Snohomish County medics also treated a man who was seriously injured by a firework that was thrown at him from a passing car as he walking along a sidewalk in the Mariner neighborhood at 10:05 p.m., Hynes said.
The man sustained serious injuries to his leg when the firework exploded. A woman was also hurt. Both were taken by medics to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.