Langley bakery scorched by electrical fire Thursday

Sundance Bakery in Langley will be out of business for a while due to damage sustained during a fire Thursday evening.

Sundance Bakery in Langley will be out of business for a while due to damage sustained during a fire Thursday evening.

Flames were reported around 9:10 p.m. July 23 in the back of the bakery, which is located in the old Langley lumberyard building at the intersection of De Bruyn Avenue and Second Street. Langley Police Chief Dave Marks said officer Charlie Liggitt arrived first on the scene and was able to fight the flames with a fire extinguisher from his squad car.

South Whidbey Fire/EMS Deputy Chief Mike Cotton said that once the fire district firefighters knocked down the flames, he determined the fire appeared to have started from a glass-front cooler. From the cooler, it ignited some wood chips and kindling used by the bakery for its wood-fire oven.

“It electrically, somehow, went bad close to some combustibles nearby and started to go up the wall,” Cotton said Friday morning.

Thanks to a quick call once the fire and smoke were noticed and Liggitt’s use of the fire extinguisher from a nearby window, the small blaze was prevented from spreading much further. A microwave and coffee pot were also destroyed.

No damage was reported to the adjacent businesses, including a laundromat and an exercise studio.

“It was a little exciting for a few moments,” Cotton said.

“It turned out to be a little, simple fire,” he added.

Cotton said the business sustained both fire and smoke damage and would be closed for a while for the cleanup, but that it would coincide with a remodel bakery owner Kelly Baugh had been considering. He estimated the damage and remodel work to be around $20,000.

“Fortunately it was found early because it could have been a whole lot worse,” Cotton said.