PORT ANGELES — Flammables inside a private shop helped to fuel a spectacular fire that destroyed the building Wednesday night.
Clallam County Fire District No. 2 responded to the fire at 836 Little River Road to find the 40-foot-square shop engulfed in flames only 50 feet from Dalton Haubold’s home.
From a Fire District No. 2 news release this morning:
“Homeowner Dalton Haubold stated that there was flammable products inside the shop and a 250-gallon propane tank on the backside of the shop.
“Haubold told Assistant Chief Mike DeRousie that he heard the alarm go off in the shop, and when he looked outside, he could see flames. He grabbed a fire extinguisher, opened the shop man door and tried to put the fire out.”
As the fire grew, Haubold asked someone to call 9-1-1, then he tried to fight the flames with a garden hose but the blaze by then was too hot.
Firefighters upon arrival worked to protect the nearby home while they extinguished the fire in the shop building, in which the metal roof had collapsed.
Destroyed were a Kubota tractor, two boats, a hoist, a metal lathe, thousands of dollars worth of tools and a bundle of tongue-and-grove pine boards, a Fire District 2 spokesperson said. No injuries were reported.
Little River Road runs along the Elwha River south of Port Angeles. The fire was between the U.S. Highway 101 and Black Diamond Road intersections.
