PORT ANGELES — Firefighters had knocked back a blaze in a house on a Port Angeles bluff by 8 p.m. Tuesday but were planning to stay all that night to ensure it didn’t flare up again.
The fire presented firefighters with a dilemma: continue to douse the blaze in the house at 715 E. Caroline St. or let it burn to prevent further erosion to the failing bluff.
They decided to let it burn in a controlled manner, said Port Angeles Fire Department Chief Ken Dubuc.
“We’re going to be here all night,” Dubuc said at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Water used to fight the fire had collapsed the bluff to within 6 feet of the burning house by 5 p.m.
Hours later, Dubuc didn’t know if the bluff’s edge had crept closer to the structure since no one could get around to that side of the house.
“Parts of [the bluff] are still going down,” Dubuc said.
Crews were concerned that allowing the house to burn unchecked could ignite fires to neighboring homes, Dubuc said.
But city engineers told Dubuc that firefighters could put only a small amount of water on the blaze.
Soaking the house enough to extinguish the fire could cause a major collapse of the bluff, city engineers told Dubuc.
“We have no good options right now,” Dubuc said shortly before 5 p.m.
Those staying in a neighboring house at 713 E. Caroline St., were told they could not stay the night there because of the danger of the bluff falling down.
The house that is on fire is not safe for anyone to enter, the fire chief said.
“At some point we’re going to have to consider what our alternatives are in terms of getting in,” Dubuc said.
The owner of the house was staying with family, he added.
The cause of the blaze is unknown. Dubuc said that the owner had told firefighters she had left a fire going in a wood stove when she left to care for a friend.
“Whether that had anything to do with it or not we do not know,” Dubuc said. “It could be just a coincidence.”
The fire started in the house while the owner was away and climbed up the wall interiors, Dubuc said.
No one was hurt. A cat was missing, the owner told firefighters.
Cpl. David Dombrowski of the Port Angeles Police Department, who was on the scene before the firefighters arrived, could not go in after the cat because of the thick smoke pouring from the windows and eaves.
The worst of the fire was on the north side of the house facing the bluff.
The Port Angeles Waterfront Trail was closed because of falling trees and mud.
Firefighters from Clallam County Fire District No. 2 assisted.
