SEQUIM — A family of eight was scattered across town Monday as the cause of the fire that destroyed their home east of Sequim was still under investigation.
Kelly Morrison and her father, Bill Stollar, owner of the burned-out house at 277 Pierson Road, are at a Sequim motel, while other family members are staying with a friend and a neighbor, Morrison said Monday.
“We have nothing,” she added.
“It’s a little overwhelming” since the family’s belongings went up in flames Saturday afternoon.
No one was home at around 4 p.m. when Stollar and Morrison’s neighbor, Chuck Fink, saw smoke and flames coming from the kitchen window and phoned 9-1-1.
Most of house engulfed
There were no injuries in the blaze, which drew three Clallam County Fire District No. 3 engines and a water tender.
When firefighters arrived, three quarters of the two-story, 1,440-square-foot house were on fire, according to District 3 Lt. Robert Rhoads.
An account has been set up at First Federal to gather help for the family, Morrison said.
Donations may be made to the Stollar Family Fund at any First Federal branch.
The Olympic Peninsula Chapter of the American Red Cross is also aiding with the search for housing, she added.
The fire left the family’s five children homeless: Mason, 9, and Wyatt, 6, who are Greywolf Elementary School students; Travis, 17, and Brandon, 15, who attend Sequim High School; and Kelsey, 13, who goes to Sequim Middle School.
Morrison’s niece Katherine Hargett, 19, was also part of the household and is also looking for a new place to live.
Morrison, who works at Sequim Health & Rehabilitation, said she was in downtown Sequim for Irrigation Festival Grand Parade festivities Saturday afternoon when the fire broke out.
Other family members were out shopping in preparation for the release of her mother, Pearl Stollar, from Olympic Care and Rehabilitation Center in Sequim.
Christena Johnson, a friend of the family, said Pearl Stollar, 62, had been recovering from a broken hip and planned to come home this Wednesday.
But Morrison said she now has no home to return to.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
