Clinton men save neighbors’ home

Published 8:45 am Thursday, August 13, 2015

A Clinton father and son put out a brushfire, preventing it from damaging a neighbor’s home Tuesday afternoon.

Steve Backus of Clinton and his 18-year-old son Boone put out a brushfire on Glendale Road that threatened to destroy a neighbor’s home owned by Jim Nichols, who was off-island at the time. 

Steve Backus said he heard a bang and went outside to investigate. He found a brushfire moving across a field adjacent to Nichols’ home. The flames were moving dangerously close to Nichols’ home when Backus and Boone began their efforts in putting out the fire. The Backuses used a hose by the house as well as shovels and their feet to douse the flames.

“I came out of my place, smelled smoke and heard a ‘pop,'” Backus said. “We came over here and tried beating on it with our feet and then it just grew. It was just at that point where you could stick the hose in it and it kind of died slightly.”

Most of the fire was extinguished by the time South Whidbey Fire/EMS firefighters arrived on the scene around 3 p.m. The fire had been caused by sparks after a transformer exploded, South Whidbey Fire/EMS Deputy Chief Jon Beck said.

“(Backus) saved the structures without a doubt. He did a phenomenal job on that,” Beck said. “They owe saving the house to him.”The fire and exposed power lines closed the road for a little over an hour, Beck said.

Firefighters left the scene around 5 p.m. and returned to ensure the fire was fully snuffed that evening.