Crews douse early morning house fire on Kent’s East Hill

Crews fought, contained and extinguished a house fire on Kent’s East Hill early Thursday morning, the Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority reported.

The fire was out with within 40 minutes after the first crew arrived. There was no one at home at the time of the fire.

Two firefighters, who fell through a hole in the floor into the basement and got tangled in wiring, were extricated without injury, Puget Sound Fire said.

There were no injuries.

Units were dispatched on a 2:52 a.m. call of a house fire in the area of 116th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 234th Place. As firefighters were en route, neighbors also reported that the house was fully engulfed in flames in the 11600 block of Southeast 235th Street.

First-arriving crew confirmed the two-story house had a basement on the back side and initiated an exterior attack with a large hose line. The call was upgraded to a working fire to obtain additional resources. Once the fire had been knocked down, crews started an interior attack.

Approximately 15 minutes into the fire attack, while a crew was performing a search of the upper floor, two firefighters fell through a hole in the floor into the basement and became tangled in a mass of wiring. An additional crew was deployed. Within five minutes, the firefighters were disentangled and able to exit the house from the lower floor without injuries.

“While this created some tense moments, this type of scenario is something personnel train for,” said Capt. Joe Root, Puget Sound RFA spokesman, in a news release.

All told, the response included six units from Puget Sound Fire as well as assistance from the Renton Regional Fire Authority, King County Medic One and Zone 3 Rehab.

The homeowner was still being identified.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. A crew remained on scene until daylight to help the investigator.