CLALLAM BAY — Longtime West End resident Kelly Gregory and his wife, Kim, lost their cedar home to fire last week.
No one was inside the home at 24563 state Highway 112 when the fire began in the area of the chimney late Thursday morning, Fire District 5 Chief Trish Hutson said Friday.
No injuries
Gregory, his wife, their dog and cats, and two horses that were in a corral at a barn some 50 to 100 feet west of the home were not injured.
Kelly Gregory is the Clallam Bay High School boys basketball coach.
Kim Gregory is a school secretary currently on medical leave, Hutson said.
The couple, who have grown children, lost all their possessions, “pictures, memories, things that your kids had made through the years growing up, all those types of things,” Hutson said.
Kelly Gregory was doing his best to adjust late Friday afternoon.
“The hardest day is over with,” he said.
“The second one ain’t real easy, either, but I’m doing all right.”
Gregory said he is staying with his mother in Clallam Bay and his wife is at another relative’s home in Clallam Bay.
Property destroyed
The couple’s house, valued at $91,601, was 1,751 square feet and had two bathrooms, three bedrooms and a cedar shake roof.
Hutson said the fire started as a chimney fire and quickly spread through the residence.
Gregory had left home Thursday morning after filling the stove with a big bag of old envelopes and paper, and wood, returning about 30 minutes later from a relative’s house.
“When he pulled in, the roof was already on fire,” Hutson said.
“The wind was blowing pretty good.
“It couldn’t be on a day when it’s raining, like [Friday].”
Gregory at first tried unsuccessfully to put it out with a garden hose and with buckets of water he threw on the flames after climbing on the roof by ladder.
“He was up on the roof and trying to put it out and couldn’t put it out himself, and then called 9-1-1,” Hutson said.
The blaze was called into 9-1-1 at 11:22 a.m. Thursday.
A GoFundMe site to help the family is at https://tinyurl.com/PDN-kimandkelly.
Recommendations
Hutson recommended that homeowners not burn envelopes and treated paper such as inserts in wood stoves.
“That causes a greater buildup of creosote and chemicals that build up in your chimney,” she said.
“I recommend to people that they keep the chimney clean, keep the stove pipes clean and only burn natural wood products.
“It’s not for garbage paper and that kind of stuff.”
Hutson also recommended that residents immediately call the fire department the second they realize their property is burning and not try first to put out the blaze.
“They can always turn us around,” Hutson said.
She said the nearest fire hydrant was 8 miles away.
Thirteen emergency personnel responded to the blaze with a District 5 engine and a Fire District 4 engine and tanker.
Hutson said they stayed until about 4:30 p.m. Thursday, putting out hot spots.
Natural wood products build up creosote and other flammable chimney deposits faster than firewood, she said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@ peninsuladailynews.com.
