Perhaps living up to its unlucky name, two fires happened on Friday, Feb. 13 on Whidbey.

The larger and more serious of the two blazes displaced two people after a fire engulfed a mobile home in Freeland. Around 5 p.m., South Whidbey Fire/EMS responded to the Highway 525 address, according to Fire Chief Nick Walsh. Both occupants were able to escape the burning structure prior to the fire department’s arrival. Walsh said one person was transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation and minor burns but released later that evening.

Images from the fire department and social media show the gravity of the situation, with flames pouring from the windows of the 1,780-square-foot mobile home as dusk set in that night. The home was a total loss, estimated around $510,000, Walsh said.

Approximately 20 firefighters were on scene for about five hours, battling the blaze. The cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation.

According to a post in the Alert Whidbey 2.0 Facebook group, South Whidbey Fire/EMS requested that the Red Cross respond to provide aid to the home’s occupants.

Earlier that day, near Coupeville, firefighters from Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue responded to a Harrington Road residence around 1 p.m. for a garage fire. According to Deputy Chief James Meek, a neighbor noticed smoke coming from the garage and alerted the home’s occupants, using a garden hose to attack the blaze before firefighters arrived.

The cause of the fire was linked to an older vehicle that had been running within the garage. When it was turned off and the garage doors were closed, some nearby cardboard near the exhaust was ignited.

There was minor damage to the garage, and none to the attached house. Even the car itself was not a total loss, Meek surmised.

“A huge thanks to the neighbor,” he said.