Blaze destroys Blyn home near Chicken Coop Road

BLYN — Officials said a fire that consumed a Blyn home late Monday morning was tough to fight due to terrain.

Assistant Fire Chief Tony Hudson with Clallam County Fire District No. 3 said no one was home at the residence on 112 Howard Heights Road when firefighters received a call for a smoke investigation at 11:16 a.m. and a second call confirming a structure fire at 11:30 a.m.

The home sits atop a steep hill off Chicken Coop Road east of Sequim and overlooks Sequim Bay.

Firefighters discovered the approximately 3,100-square-foot home fully involved when they arrived on scene.

Hudson said when the first engine arrived, crews had to drag hoses and other equipment up the steep incline.

Because of the fire’s intensity and lack of water supply, he said firefighters remained in a defensive position for quite some time.

A water tender was able to make it up the hill next to the house around 12:30 p.m. while firefighters continued to fight the fire lower down the hill.

There wasn’t any exposure to the surrounding vegetation, Hudson said, but it could have been a different fire in drier, warmer months.

Fire officials report the fire was extinguished at 4 p.m.

The cause remained unknown as of Monday afternoon, Hudson said, due to the condition of the building and the heat of the fire. He estimated it might take a few days or longer before there is a better understanding of the fire.

Further details on the house, insurance and its contents were unavailable Monday.

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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.