UPDATE | July 5th, 2014, 5PM
The King County Fire Investigator officially ruled the Fairway Ave house fire was accidental and caused by fireworks.
__________________________________
The Snoqualmie Fire Department responded quickly to a golf course area house fire on July 4, 2014. You can see a short video of the fire here: Fairway Fire 7/4/14 & Fairway Ave Fire 7/4/14
City of Snoqualmie Public Information Officer, Joan Pliego, said the 4th of July house fire on Fairway Ave, just down from Cascade Ave, was dispatched at 5:19PM. The fire was out by 6PM, but in 40 minutes the fast-moving fire had destroyed the upper portion of the rear of the home, end to end.
Residents were asked to stay away from the area as investigators worked and fire crews kept a watch on hot spots, which continue for hours after the fire was initially out.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but the origin is believed to be the rear roof of the home. This Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhood (Cascade) is one of the only area where homes (built in the late 1990’s) have cedar shake roofs. Neighbors report fireworks were being ignited in the vicinity throughout the day.
Pliego said neighbors reported the homeowners were out of town at the time of the blaze. According to a social media post, they were informed of their home’s destruction via news coverage while vacationing
No injuries were reported. Pliego said fire investigators entered the home around 7PM, but had to leave due to the instability of the burned structure. The home’s roof was at risk of collapsing.
The City of Snoqualmie asked residents to be cautious with holiday fireworks. The fire, though, did not stop fireworks on Snoqualmie where it is legal to light off legal fireworks in the city limits on the 4th of July.
Numerous residential neighborhoods held holiday fireworks displays, lighting up the night sky. According to some residents, the large amount of fireworks being discharged made it sound like a war zone on Snoqualmie Ridge.
Comments
Am still waiting to hear back from Eastside Fire regarding this incident.
Someone had a rough day. Get off you throne. Snoqualmie residents don’t pick the stories.
At some point, I remain hopeful that our city council members will stand up and do what is right for our neighborhood and restrict firework usage to designated, safe areas. A family lost their home yesterday due to dangerous explosives – and we should take a stand of their behalf. And the really sad part, residents very near their home continued to set up their firework tables for their own enjoyment. Could they not just take pause? Shake roofs – really?
When our kids are young, we don’t give much thought to fireworks other than that kids love the noise, light and experience. At some point we need to start considering very young children who are frightened along with panicked animals. The fact that fireworks can legally be discharged from 9AM until 12AM creates a rather lengthy state of havoc. Perhaps we might consider Kirkland’s model where personal fireworks are banned and the city provides a public fireworks celebration.