Investigators were unable to definitively nail down what sparked two fires late last week, but noted neither building had smoke detectors.
The first of the two fires destroyed a two-story shop at an oft-reported nuisance property in Orchards, at 6114 N.E. 112th Ave., early morning Thursday. The second fire was in a small, single-story house in Hazel Dell, at 10220 N.E. 13th Ave., Friday evening.
“Neither one of them had smoke detectors,” Deputy Clark County Fire Marshal Dan Young said. “The one on 13th Avenue could have been really bad is they hadn’t been awake. … The other one, they just got lucky, because they were sleeping.”
The Thursday fire appeared to have started around an area in the structure with a bed, Young said.
There were multiple electrical issues spotted in the building, along with residents who are smokers, but the damage was too extensive for investigators to find a precise cause, Young said.
The property, heaped with debris and junk vehicles, has a long history as an eyesore in the Orchards area, and is the subject of regular complaints to county code enforcement officials.
The fire Friday burned the front of the house after starting in a bedroom used as an office.
Between indications of ignition around a paper shredder, table and chair, and the fact there were smokers in the house, Young said there was no clear call to make about the accidental fire.
“Unfortunately, sometimes we can’t get the exact cause,” he said.
Young said the damage estimate in the Thursday Orchards fire was $110,000, and $210,000 in the Friday fire in Hazel Dell.
No injuries were reported in either fire.
