An early Sunday morning fire that ripped through an Orchards-area home was ignited when an unpermitted wood stove overheated and burned through the floor of a shed, according to the Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office.
“The shed burned quickly, and the fire spread to the first and second floors, even the attic of the home,” Deputy Fire Marshal Caleb Barnes said.
Firefighters from the Vancouver Fire Department and Clark County Fire District 3 were called around 1:50 a.m. to the house at 15505 N.E. 83rd St.
Vancouver Fire Department spokesman Bryan Fredrickson said responding firefighters arrived to find fire coming from the rear of the house on the second floor and an outbuilding engulfed in flames.
The fire took about 10 minutes to bring under control, Fredrickson said. It displaced six people — two adults and four children — who were staying with friends within the neighborhood, he said.
Barnes said the homeowner had done some painting in the shed and wanted to hasten the drying process so they used a wood stove, packing it with construction materials.
The homeowner placed more materials in the stove around 1:20 a.m., Barnes said. Within 30 minutes, the stove had burned through the wooden floor, which had degraded over time. The homeowner also had installed a new pipe on the stove about a week earlier. That installation diminished the ventilation of the stove, Barnes said.
Firefighters contained the blaze to the west side of the home, but the entire building and its contents were damaged by smoke. Barnes estimated the damage to the house to be around $130,000. About $122,000 of personal belongings were lost, as well, he said.
