Bellingham Fire crews battle two-alarm fire in South Hill home that burned 3 years ago
Nearly three years to the day after it caught fire in 2017, part of a older, large South Hill neighborhood home that was undergoing remodeling again ignited Thursday and forced the Bellingham Fire Department to sound a second alarm.
Nobody was injured in Thursday’s fire, Assistant Chief Dave Parker told The Bellingham Herald, and firefighters were able to limit damage mostly to the attic.
Crews were first called to the 100 block of South Forest Street at 12:17 p.m. Aug. 20, according to the PulsePoint app. Ten minutes later, a second alarm was sounded to request more fire crews to the scene.
The second alarm was sounded because of the size of the structure and Thursday’s warm temperatures.
“When the temperature is hot like that, we like to be able to relieve our crews more often,” Parker said.
In all, eight engines from Bellingham, Ferndale and South Whatcom Fire Authority and a ladder truck responded to the fire, Parker said.
The first crews on scene found two men on the roof with a garden hose attempting to knock down flames, Parker said, and crews quickly took over the battle and extinguished the flames.
“It was difficult trying to get to the base of it,” Parker said. “It’s an old house and the attic space is pretty compartmentalized. We also spent some time overhauling to make sure the fire was completely out and a lot of salvage time trying to protect the contents — we tried to protect the first and second floors from water damage.”
Though the building was under construction, Parker said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Fire broke out in the same house on Aug. 27, 2017, but damage in that blaze was limited mostly to the turret, Parker said. That fire is believed to have started on the roof, former Bellingham Fire Department Chief Bill Newbold told The Herald at the time, and photos from the scene appear to show construction work was being done on the home at that time.
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 12:42 PM.
