PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Several 911 callers reported hearing explosions Tuesday afternoon from a fire that ultimately destroyed a house in Kelso, fire officials said.
According to Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue, crews responded to the house fire shortly after 12:30 p.m. near the corner of Louise Street and Daffodil Lane. Fire officials said within the three minutes it took for crews to arrive, the fire had already ignited two cars in the garage and spread to the home.
Every person in the home made it out safely, and firefighters began dousing the building with hoses.
The fire spread “rapidly” due to flammable liquids and gases in the area, torching an overhead power line that fell apart and started separate grass fires in the neighbor’s yard, officials said.
Firefighters’ efforts were complicated from the power line, and the house was completely consumed in the fire. Officials called it a “total loss.”
The cause of the fire apparently came from a homeowner’s car maintenance. He told fire officials he was working on one of the cars, welding an exhaust system, when a fire erupted from under the car and its fuel tank, C2FR said.
Two cats were killed in the fire and two people were displaced. The American Red Cross is assisting them.