Firefighters respond to house fire in Miller Bay Estates

MILLER BAY — A clothes dryer likely caused the house fire that displaced a Miller Bay Estates family Tuesday.

Neighbors reported the fire at about 11:30 a.m. after they noticed smoke in a window of the two-story house on Wavecrest Avenue, North Kitsap Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Michele Laboda said.

North Kitsap and Poulsbo fire crews located the source of the fire in a downstairs laundry room and quickly extinguished the flames.

The owners left home early Tuesday morning before the fire began, Laboda said. The couple's labrador retriever was in the yard and one of the owners took their other dog to work.

Flames did significant damage to the home's first floor and both floors were damaged by smoke, Laboda said. The owners have insurance but will be staying with friends until the house can be repaired.

Laboda said the owners had left a clothes dryer running when they left home that morning and the Kitsap County Fire Marshal determined it to be the likely cause of the flames. Investigators cleared the scene at about 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Laboda said dryers are common culprits in house fires, especially if the lint traps are not cleaned regularly.

"We want to encourage everyone to not leave their dryers going when they are at work or when they go to bed," Laboda said.

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Contact North Kitsap Herald North End Reporter Tad Sooter at tsooter@northkitsapherald.com or 360-779-4464.

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