Blaze shows fire risk in rural areas

Fire crews called to an early-morning house fire last week on a dead-end street in unincorporated Southeast King County were hit with an immediate obstacle.

The neighborhood, a slice of county land on Southeast 286th Street near Kent and Auburn, has no fire hydrants. The nearest one is a half mile away. To fight the blaze, firefighters laid 1,000 feet of yellow hose to reach out to the main road, where fire trucks ferried in water.

A teenage boy escaped safely, but the home burned almost to the ground. By the time firefighters arrived, the house was so engulfed in flames that it likely would have been destroyed even if water had been readily available.

But the lack of fire hydrants slowed the firefighting process, Kent Fire Capt. Kyle Ohashi said.

In parts of unincorporated Southeast King County where fire hydrants are scarce, firefighters tailor how they respond to fires. Residents live with the risks.

King County and individual cities have their own rules on the number of fire hydrants required in residential and commercial areas. Code requirements vary, depending on when the homes were built and how rural the area is, said Bill Mudd, lead fire-protection engineer for the King County Fire Marshal division.

To install fire hydrants in rural unincorporated areas of the county would be a significant, costly project — and it's not up to the fire-marshal division to decide whether to do that, Mudd said. Water districts control the installation of the water mains that service the fire hydrants.

Whenever Valley Regional Fire Authority firefighters respond to fire calls in a neighborhood off Kersey Way near the White River, they go in prepared to fight the fire with water from the fire-truck tanks, said Jeff Stottlemyre, Valley fire marshal.

In such neighborhoods without hydrants, Auburn requires homeowners to install sprinkler systems, Stottlemyre said.

While fire hydrants supply water from a municipal water main, firefighters also can use water from tanks onboard the fire trucks. Maple Valley Fire and Life Safety always send three engines to fires in rural areas with no hydrants, Fire Chief Tim Lemon said.

A fire engine can hold about 750 gallons of water, while a tender — a special fire truck to carry water — can hold 2,000 gallons, Lemon said.

It may not be a common thought to ask about fire hydrants when buying a home, but neighbors on Southeast 286th Street are aware of the risk.

Homeowner Allan Hill said he and his wife knew what they were getting into when they moved into the neighborhood more than 30 years ago.

"My wife and I are very, very careful about what happens around the house," Hill said.

Carolyn Tolas found out the hard way. Eighteen years ago, the family was vacationing on Mount Rainier when their home — across the street from the house that caught fire last week — burned to the ground after a fire started in the roof.

When the Tolases rebuilt their home, they installed sprinklers, Tolas said.

Standing in the middle of the street staring at her neighbor's still smoldering home, Tolas couldn't believe another house had burned on her street.

Burned leaves and charred shingles from her neighbor's home littered her own front lawn. All that was left of her neighbor's yellow home with green shutters was the skeleton of a corner of the frame and the blackened metal chimney.

Tolas said the neighbors take care of one another.

"When my house burned, my neighbors were right there," she said. "We will do the same for them."

Lauren Vane: 253-234-8604 or lvane@seattletimes.com