Water heater fires remain under investigation

SANDPOINT — Fire officials are still investigating the cause of simultaneous fires that damaged a duplex on the city’s west side on Wednesday night.

The fires occurred in the garages of a duplex in the 900 block of Hickory Glen Avenue at 7:30 p.m.

One of the duplex’s residents told officials he heard a popping sound coming from his garage and went to investigate, said Sandpoint/Sagle Fire Chief Ron Stocking. The resident smelled natural gas and went to shut off his home’s hot water heater.

“In the process, the water heater ignites and catches on fire, which catches his pant leg on fire,” said Stocking.

The man extinguished the fire on his clothes and evacuated his family. Stocking said the man suffered first-degree burns to his right leg.

Firefighters from Sandpoint, Sagle and the Northside Fire District responded and discovered there was also a fire in the duplex’s other garage. The home’s occupants were out to dinner when that fire started, according to Stocking.

The fires were knocked down and an unconscious cat that was found outside the duplex was revived with oxygen supplied by Bonner County EMS personnel.

“What’s interesting about the fire is we had two separate fires start from two different water heaters that are not connected. There is no connection between those two water heaters,” said Stocking.

Avista Corporation, which supplies the duplex’s natural gas, is conducting its own investigation into the fire’s cause, but its findings were not immediately available on Thursday.

Moreover, the Hickory Glen fires were strikingly similar to a fire that took place in the 600 block of Lake Street a couple of weeks ago, Stocking said.

Stocking plans to speak with Avista officials today to try and pinpoint the cause of the fires.

“We had some sort of malfunctioning taking place,” said Stocking.

Stocking estimated that the fire caused $20,000-$30,000 in damages to the duplex as a whole. Firefighters’ intervention prevented an estimated $180,000-$200,000 in additional damage.