Fire damages Bellingham duplex, displacing students

No one was hurt when an attic fire damaged a Bellingham duplex Monday afternoon, Dec. 14, on Ellis Street.

Carissa Loft, 19, a tenant at 1210 Ellis St., said she noticed the upper floor unit seemed suddenly foggy around 3:30 p.m. As she searched for the source of the problem, someone from a neighboring daycare knocked on her door to tell her the house was on fire.

Loft, a Western Washington University student, was the only one home at the time. Two housemates arrived home a few minutes later, as the first fire engines rolled up to the scene.

Grayish white smoke drifted from the right front corner of the attic. Firefighters rushed inside and cut through a bedroom ceiling to extinguish the fire, said Bellingham Fire Assistant Chief Rob Kintzele. Later, firefighters used a chainsaw to cut a hole in the roof to make sure the fire was out.

Actual heat and flame damage to the home was minor, Kintzele said. Piles of burnt insulation were hauled from the attic to a narrow front yard.

The other residents of the upper unit are students at Whatcom Community College and Bellingham Technical College.

Firefighters broke down a door of the three-bedroom lower unit. No one was inside, and there was no significant damage to the unit, according to the fire department.

One block of Ellis Street was blocked in both directions for a little over an hour for the fire engines.

The cause of the fire — possibly electrical — remained under investigation Monday.

County assessor’s records list the homeowners as David N. and Kay C. Hansen. The building has an assessed value of about $186,000.

This story was originally published December 14, 2015 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Fire damages Bellingham duplex, displacing students."