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Homeless activity reportedly starts two Kent vacant home fires

Published 3:48 pm Friday, January 6, 2023

By Steve Hunter

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A fire breaks out Jan. 6 at a vacant Kent home in the 500 block of Bridges Avenue South. COURTESY PHOTO, Puget Sound Fire
Firefighters contain a fire Jan. 6 at a vacant Kent home along Bridges Avenue South near downtown. COURTESY PHOTO, Puget Sound Fire
Puget Sound Fire responds Jan. 6 to a fire at a vacant Kent home in the 21500 block of 108th Avenue SE on the East Hill. COURTESY PHOTO, Puget Sound Fire

Two vacant homes caught fire Friday morning, Jan. 6 in separate incidents in Kent with each reportedly caused by homeless who used the houses.

Nobody was injured in either fire, said Pat Pawlak, spokesperson for Kent-based Puget Sound Fire.

Firefighters responded at about 3:42 a.m. to a house fire in the 21500 block of 108th Avenue SE on the East Hill. Firefighters saw flames coming from the windows of the single-story house. They extinguished the fire in about 45 minutes.

“It was a vacant house and it appears (the cause) may have been related to transient or homeless activity,” Pawlak said in a phone interview.

Renton Regional Fire Authority assisted on the call.

Firefighters responded to a second house fire at about 8:49 a.m. in the 500 block of Bridges Avenue South, just southeast of downtown. It took about an hour to put out the fire.

“It was a vacant house and (the cause) is under investigation but there were reports of homeless going in and out of there,” Pawlak said.

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