Fire destroys Dover home
(Photo courtesy SELKIRK FIRE, RESCUE & EMS) A 5,000-square-foot home was detroyed by a fire in the early morning hours Friday. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
DOVER — An early morning fire in the Syringa Heights area of Dover destroyed a 5,000 square-foot home, as well as a vehicle in the driveway.
According to Selkirk Fire, Rescue and EMS Battalion Chief Jason Cordle, firefighters responded to a report of a fire and multiple explosions around 2:45 a.m. Friday. The single occupant of the home reportedly opened his bedroom door, receiving second-degree burns on his hands from the doorknob, and found the house filled with smoke Cordle said. He was able to escape through an additional bedroom and crawled down a banister from an exterior deck on the second floor.
"We were on scene within 8 minutes of the initial 911 call, and the home was 100 percent involved," Cordle said.
Cordle said he is not sure what the reported explosions were, and the fire is under investigation by the state fire marshal. Northside and West Pend Oreille fire district's also responded, as well as Selkirk — about 20 firefighters total.
The house and one vehicle were a loss, and another vehicle and motorcycle were damaged by the fire. A big concern for firefighters, Cordle said, was the house was located on a south-facing slope with homes above it. With dry wildland conditions and the close proximity of neighboring structures, firefighters concentrated efforts on the area around the house as well.
"We parked an engine at each house above the home that was burning and protected those structures in case it did get into the wildland, which it did a little bit, but we were able to stop it on the property of the house that was burning, so it didn't spread to the neighbors' property or to any of the other homes," Cordle said.
The home was equipped with natural gas by Avista, and the fire burned the natural gas meter and was dumping natural gas in the area. While the Avista crew dug up the line to shut off the gas, firefighters could not get into that area, which slowed the firefighting efforts a little bit, Cordle said.
The fire was "pretty much" knocked down and contained by about 4:30 a.m. Cordle said, though firefighters were still actively engaged in firefighting efforts until about 6:30 a.m. Concerns over hot spots kept crews on scene to monitor the area of the fire throughout the day Friday.
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.