PORT TOWNSEND — A couple is without a home after a lit candle fell while they were away, destroying their bedroom in the lower level of a Port Townsend duplex.
A neighbor reported the fire in the 500 block of Clay Street at 12:02 p.m. Sunday, and firefighters had the blaze knocked down within 10 to 12 minutes, said East Jefferson Fire-Rescue spokesman Bill Beezley.
The bedroom suffered the most damage, but there was heavy smoke and water damage throughout the lower level of the duplex.
No one was home in either of the units.
One of the renters told firefighters they had left a votive candle lit on the nightstand next to the bed before leaving.
“It appears to have fallen between the bed and the nightstand, catching the bedding on fire and spreading from there,” Beezley said.
He said a neighbor noticed smoke coming from the house “very quickly,” which limited much of the structural damage to the bedroom.
“It was contained to the bedroom, so the rest of the house just suffered smoke and water damage,” he said.
He said it was questionable whether the upstairs unit was still livable and that the American Red Cross is helping out.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.
