MONROE, Wash. — A house fire in Monroe has displaced a family of six and their eight dogs.
Around 2:00 a.m. Tuesday, Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue rushed to the home on 208th Place Southeast, near High Rock Road.
The department says the family woke up to the sounds and smells of the fire, as well as flickering lights. All six people managed to escape on their own.
There were no smoke alarms sounding when firefighters arrived.
“This incident serves as an important reminder of working smoke alarms. When seconds matter, smoke alarms provide a critical early warning and can save lives,” Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue shared in a release about the incident.
Crews rescued six husky puppies and two adult huskies from the home, reuniting them with the family.
The home is considered a total loss.
Joshua, one of the people living in the house, told KIRO 7 he was woken up by his mom, who was yelling about the fire in the back.
“This is a really bad tragedy,” Joshua said. “No family should ever go through this.”
Joshua said it’s the second time his family has been impacted by a fire.
“My little brother, my older sister have actually gotten hurt in a fire in the past,” he said. “So it’s like seeing this happen to us again.”
The family has started a fundraiser to begin the process of rebuilding their lives. You can donate here.
The Red Cross has also been called to assist the family with shelter and essential needs.
Crews navigated a steep dirt road to reach the home and there weren’t nearby fire hydrants, so water tenders from Snohomish County Fire District 4 and Duvall Fire came to help.
The closest fire hydrant is about three miles away. Crews say this is not uncommon for rural areas like this.
“If a fire alarm comes for that residence, it automatically triggers a water tender because we know that there’s not a water system in place for a fire hydrant,” said Peter Mongillo with Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue.
Mongillo also urged people to take lessons away from this tragedy.
He told KIRO 7 that the home had a fifth-wheel trailer attached to the house that also caught flames.
These can “go up quickly,” he said, because of how many consumables can be inside.
He also warned “hoarding conditions” made the firefight more complex, and made it more difficult for rescuers to grab dogs inside.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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