PORT TOWNSEND — Three people were sent to the hospital with smoke inhalation and burns after a pre-dawn house fire Monday that might be linked to candles used during a power outage the night before.
Two men and a woman were stabilized at Jefferson Healthcare hospital and transported to Harborview Medical Center with serious smoke inhalation and burn injuries, said Bill Beezley, spokesman for East Jefferson Fire-Rescue.
A fourth occupant of the house at 4660 Holcomb St., a teenage boy, was not injured.
No names were released, and conditions of the injured were not available.
Firefighters from East Jefferson Fire-Rescue and Naval Magazine Indian Island were called at 4:51 a.m. and arrived on scene at 4:47 a.m., Beezley said.
On arrival, firefighters found the house fully in flames. The occupants were sheltered in a Port Townsend police car, he said.
The house is located at the corner of Holcomb and 47th streets just southwest of Fort Worden State Park.
According to the teenager, the occupants of the house lighted candles during a storm-caused power outage late Sunday, and he was unsure if all of the candles had been extinguished.
The teen told fire investigators that he was awakened shortly before 5 a.m. by the sound of shattering glass as another occupant broke windows to escape.
The three adult occupants were able to escape, but they suffered smoke inhalation, and the two men also received burns, Beezley said.
Firefighters knocked down the flames in about 20 minutes, but “the house was pretty much destroyed,” he said.
Beezley said East Jefferson and the Navy fire department often work together on fires and medical calls.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
