Fire destroys Glendale home

A fire destroyed a home just before midnight on Friday July 13 near Glendale on South WHidbey.

Deputy Chief Jon Beck of South Whidbey Fire/EMS said the small cabin off of Glendale Heights Road was already destroyed before firefighters arrived.

The resident of the cabin was not present when the fire started, Beck said. He said the home was set back a couple miles from the main road, and the fire could only be seen by neighbors once it was large. Calls also came from across the water in Mukilteo.

“The building was almost to the ground” by the time firefighters arrived, he said.

It also scorched brush and trees near the structure. Eleven personnel responded with water tenders from South Whidbey Fire and Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue, and it took about an hour to get the flames under control, he said.

It took the crew another hour and a half to fully extinguish the fire. A tree was discovered still burning the next morning, and firefighters returned to put it out.

The cause of the fire is undetermined.

“We don’t suspect it was intentional,” Beck said.

The occupant, who had been at the residence earlier that day, told fire district personnel he suspected wiring from his music equipment may have started the fire, Beck said.

This theory couldn’t be confirmed because of the extensive damage, but Beck said the cause did not appear suspicious.