PORT ANGELES — One person died and another was transported to a Seattle hospital after a fire at a Port Angeles duplex.
A little before 8:30 p.m. Friday night, Christopher Johnson said he was driving home from work when he saw smoke and a fire coming from a home in the 100 block of South Washington Street.
He stopped and said the door was open 1 or 2 feet, and he was able to see two individuals inside the residence.
Johnson said he called 911 and then went inside and pulled one person from the house.
After that, the door to the house slammed shut, Johnson said. He tried to open the door but couldn’t due to heat and flames, he added.
The Port Angeles Police Department (PAPD), Port Angeles Fire Department (PAFD) and Clallam County Fire District 2 (CCFD2) then arrived on scene and found a residential duplex with “moderate smoke showing,” according to a PAFD press release.
The 62-year-old individual who had been evacuated from the building was treated for burn injuries. An Olympic Ambulance crew transported them to Olympic Medical Center. Soon after, they were transported from OMC to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
CCFD2 Fire Chief Jake Patterson said the individual is expected to survive.
A 59-year-old resident was later located and removed but was pronounced dead at the scene due to injuries resulting from the fire.
Two small dogs also were involved in the fire, PAFD Chief Derrell Sharp said. One of them was found dead in the structure; the other is alive and is being cared for by a “good Samaritan” who knew the residents, he added.
The fire crews quickly confined and extinguished the fire in the duplex’s unit of origin, Patterson said.
The scene was then turned over to the Port Angeles Police Department and fire investigators from Clallam County Fire District 3.
Preliminary analysis indicated that the fire was started accidentally, Patterson said.
The final investigation with more conclusive results likely will be completed by the end of this week or early next week, Sharp added.
Between CCFD2 and PAFD, 15 personnel, two engines, one ladder truck, one ambulance and one chief’s vehicle responded to the scene.
The valuation of property losses will be determined by a claims adjuster, building official or fire marshal, according to the press release. That will be “some time out,” Sharp said.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
