Geodesic dome fire displaces couple in Whatcom County

A house fire displaced a couple Thursday north of Custer, in an apparent accident with a soldering torch.

Residents called for 911 for a fire in a geodesic dome around 11:55 a.m. at 8302 Valley View Road. Firefighters rushed to the building, in a small clearing in the woods about 7 miles west of Lynden.

By then about half of the home was engulfed in flames, said North Whatcom Fire & Rescue Chief William Pernett. The residents assured first-responders that no one remained inside. No one was hurt.

Firefighters could not save the contents of the home, however, and took a defensive approach to the battle. The fire was knocked down 40 minutes after crews started dousing the flames.

The dome remained standing, but it was gutted by heavy flame damage. Inside, the house had about six different tiers, Pernett said, though from the outside the building appears to be two stories tall.

A resident told firefighters he’d been soldering wires when his gas torch caught a piece of insulation on fire. An investigator with the Whatcom County Fire Marshal’s Office responded to look into the cause of the fire.

Officially the fire remains under investigation.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Geodesic dome fire displaces couple in Whatcom County."