A South Hill man was seriously injured Sunday following an accidental explosion started by his 6-month-old Cane Corso puppy, Lulu, his wife told The News Tribune.
Sabrina Hamilton said Wednesday that her husband, 59-year-old Ande Hamilton, came home from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle the day after the fire and is recovering well.
He was on a ventilator at Harborview as a precaution, she said, and has second-degree burns from his knees to his waist. She’s a registered nurse.
Her husband likes to visit with friends and work on motorcycles in the detached shop behind their house, where they’ve lived since 2017, she said. Their boisterous puppy jumped up and knocked him into a bench in the shop Sunday, which knocked a container of denatured alcohol into a pellet stove, which caused the explosion, she explained.
The fire destroyed the shop and five motorcycles inside, she said. The family is still waiting for a call back from their insurance company.
Until talking to the family, all The News Tribune could confirm was what the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department was able to share Wednesday: That crews took one person to Harborview following a Puyallup-area house fire Sunday.
The fire happened just after noon near 128th Street East and 107th Avenue Court East in South Hill, Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss told The News Tribune.
Moss directed The News Tribune to Central Pierce Fire & Rescue for further information.
The News Tribune called, emailed and texted Central Pierce spokesperson Capt. Michael Auvil starting Monday, following social-media reports from residents that crews took someone to Harborview. The regional burn center there treats some of the most serious burn injuries across the Northwest.
Auvil said in an email Tuesday morning: “Apologies, I was out of town this weekend. I have no additional information on this call.”
Asked about the best person to talk to about the fire, he wrote: “I am,” followed by a smiley emoji. “We do not provide hospital destinations on patients. I was told it was a fire and a person was transported, I really have no additional … . I wish I did, these are the calls we both need to inform our communities (about).”
Auvil did not respond to basic questions about the fire that The News Tribune sent in a follow-up message Tuesday, including when it happened, where it happened, how many firefighters responded, how the call came in and what crews found when they arrived, what investigators know or suspect about the cause, how many patients crews took to hospitals and how many they treated at the scene, whether any firefighters were injured, how long it took to put out the fire and how long crews were there, and about the extent of the property damage.
The News Tribune asked the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday morning for information about the fire. Moss responded immediately.
One of Sabrina Hamilton’s takeaways is that she’d like a fire hydrant on their street. Firefighters had to run a hose all the way down the street, she said. The closest hydrant appears to be across 128th Street East, which is something like 400 feet away.
She said she understood the chatter about the fire online.
“When you have an explosion, everyone wonders: ‘What the heck?'” she said.
Lulu, who eagerly greeted a News Tribune reporter Wednesday, was supposed to be a shop dog, the family said.
For the time being, she’s been reassigned.
“Now she’s a house dog,” Sabrina Hamilton said.
