A fire that destroyed a detached garage at a home in Battle Ground on Tuesday was likely caused by a malfunctioning refrigerator, according to the Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office.
“It more likely than not was started by the fridge, but we haven’t determined a specific failure. There have been other reports of these types of fires, and it lines up with those accounts,” Deputy Fire Marshal Caleb Barnes said.
Emergency responders were dispatched at 7:33 a.m. to the 8500 block of Northeast 199th Street for a report of a residential fire.
A dispatcher told firefighters en route to the address that a caller reported vehicles had been removed from the garage, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian.