PORT ANGELES — A fire destroyed an uninsured, unoccupied house early Tuesday morning.
The house at 102 W. Motor Ave. had been targeted repeatedly by trespassers, authorities said.
The blaze, reported in a 2:47 a.m. 9-1-1 call, “was likely human-caused,” but exactly how it was sparked was unknown, Port Angeles Fire Chief Ken Dubuc said Tuesday.
Arson is not suspected, he said.
“The official cause will go down as undetermined,” Dubuc said.
No injuries were reported from the fire at the house at the South Laurel Street intersection, across the street from the Port Angeles Haggen Northwest Fresh store.
It was largely extinguished by 3:20 a.m., Dubuc said.
The 1,016-square-foot, two-bedroom structure, built in 1952, had no electrical power.
Since Jan. 27, when the city posted the house as not fit to be occupied following a drug raid, police have responded to 17 calls for service at the address, mostly from neighbors, Deputy Chief Brian Smith said Tuesday afternoon.
The calls included three agency assists and one suspicious-person call.
There also were 11 calls reporting trespassing. In a few cases, people were found to be there legitimately, Smith said.
“That’s a lot of trespass calls,” he said.
“The house could be considered — like many unoccupied places that are available for people to occupy and make use of and trespass — you could call it an attractive nuisance.
“You can’t control egress and access.
“The nuisance is that bad things . . . can happen from people being in there [such as] fire and other criminal activity,” Smith said.
Dubuc said the owner had complained that people had tried to illegally get into the house over the years.
The owner, Thomas Tinkham Jr., according to county records, was unavailable for comment.
A man who identified himself as the owner asked city officials Tuesday morning for information on demolishing the residence, Pat Bartholick, code compliance officer, said Tuesday.
According to Clallam County Assessor’s Office records, the house was valued at $50,504 and the property at $50,000 for a combined valuation of $100,504.
Dubuc said neighboring structures were not threatened during the blaze.
An inspection of the area revealed no accelerants or containers that could have held accelerants, he said.
“There’s a difference between arson and possibly someone outside with a little warming fire or trying to cook something,” Dubuc said.
“It’s entirely possible someone was just sitting out there, smoking and leaving cigarettes behind.
“You just have a fire get going, and it just starts smoldering.”
Dubuc said the fire appeared to start in what was an addition or carport on the south side of the structure that had a metal roof that collapsed in the blaze.
“It’s difficult to say [whether] it started inside or the exterior and extended into it,” he said.
“By the time [firefighters] arrived, it was probably 70 percent involved.”
Clallam County Fire District No. 2 firefighters assisted.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
