Bellingham house fire starts in couch, spreads, displacing students

A couch fire on the porch of a three-story Bellingham house spread and displaced three residents Saturday afternoon, Dec. 5.

A passerby saw the fire from a distance around 3:20 p.m. at 314 Whatcom Street, a large yellow house where college students live, neighbors said. A police officer saw the smoke, too, and helped to search for anyone who might be inside, said Assistant Fire Chief Bill Hewett.

People tried to use a garden hose to get the fire out.

“They weren’t winning the battle,” Hewett said.

Firefighters reached the house five minutes after the 911 call. Flames had spread from the couch to the porch, then into the main living room, where flame, heat, smoke and water caused severe damage to the front of the house. The fire was extinguished around 3:45 p.m.

No one was hurt. Only one of the three residents, a young man, had been home. He did not want to talk with a reporter about what happened. Investigators will look into what caused the couch to catch fire.

A Seattle couple owns the house, which has an assessed value of $120,000. It won’t be habitable in the near future, Hewett said.

A fire crew stationed on Billy Frank Jr. Street, a third of a mile away, had been out on another call around 3:20 p.m., Hewett said. So an engine from the Broadway fire station was the first to reach the scene.

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 9:50 AM with the headline "Bellingham house fire starts in couch, spreads, displacing students."