Redmond family awakens to smoke; crews stop fire

A Redmond family awakened to the smell of smoke early Monday, got out of their house and called 911, bringing Redmond firefighters who doused a small fire in the garage. A fire official said they were “extremely lucky” to wake up and escape their home, which had no working smoking detectors.

Firefighters responded around 2:30 a.m. to a reported fire, possibly in the attic of a home in the 1500 block of Southwest Parkway Drive, Redmond Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Puller said.

The two adults and two children awoke to the smell of smoke in the house and were able to evacuate safely, along with their dog, Puller said.

Firefighters arrived to find light smoke visible from all of the eaves of the single-story home, he said. Crews went in, found and put out a small fire in the garage, removing the burning mattress and some cardboard.

The fire did not extend into the home and attic space, Puller said. Firefighters ventilated smoke from the house and attic space with positive-pressure fans, limiting the estimated damage to $100. There were no injuries.

“This family is extremely lucky to have woken up and escaped the house unharmed, as there were no working smoke detectors in the house,” Puller said in a news release. “Redmond firefighters installed a working smoke detector in the house before they left.”

The battalion chief said the fire was caused by combustible materials (the cardboard and mattress) leaning against and touching the exposed brick chimney in the garage, which is the back of the home’s wood fireplace.

The homeowners had a fire in the fireplace Sunday evening, Puller said. For an unknown reason, the brick became hot enough to catch the cardboard and mattress on fire.

“The homeowners were advised to have the chimney inspected before using it again,” Puller added.