Faulty wiring caused mobile home blaze

Old wiring in a stove hood is blamed for a devastating mobile home fire Friday afternoon, April 30, at the Countryside Mobile Home Park off Old Military Road.

Deputy fire marshal Ed Iskra said on Monday, May 3, that the cause of the accidental fire was an electric vent fan in the stove hood.

“There was a short in the wiring which arced and caused the wiring to catch fire,” Iskra said. “A piece of hot ‘slag’ dropped down on to the stove which was covered in combustible materials.”

The fire is believed to have smoldered for several hours before erupting. The flames were so hot that they caused several aerosol cans to explode.

The mobile home’s owner, Jay Paris, was away when the fire started as he helped a friend move out of the mobile home park and into a nearby apartment.

Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue officials said the front portion of the mobile home was fully engulfed in flames when the first firefighters arrived on the scene at approximately 1:32 p.m.

“The doors were locked so they had to do a forced entry,” said CKFR assistant chief Randy Billick. “They went in for a quick knockdown and do a search,” since inital reports said Paris might be inside.

Finding no one home, crews then were able to quickly extinguish the flames which spread outside the light blue single-wide home to a side yard.

“It was basically contained to the kitchen and part of the living room,” CKFR battalion chief Jay Lovato. But that damage was enough to need an estimated $15,000 in repairs. “With mobile homes there’s a lot of history with electrical-type fires in the wiring.

Paris lived in the home with a dog and two cats. Fire officials said they were unable to rescue the animals.

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