Neighbor helps save man from Edmonds fire

EDMONDS-- Russ Huber has always believed that everything happens for a reason.

Unable to sleep through the dark hours of early Sunday morning, Huber, 38, realized a fire was burning next door in the 5700 block of 145th Street SW just in time to help his neighbor get out.

"You've got to kind of wonder why I had insomnia last night," Huber said Sunday evening. "It's got some degree of fate to it, but I'm just glad I was able to help."

Huber was studying for his final medical school exam about 4:30 a.m. when he heard a loud noise. When he looked outside, the window from the house next door was falling on the ground in chunks.

"I could see the outlines of flames coming out of the window," Huber said.

After calling 911 and waking his family, Huber rushed outside to see if anyone was still in the burning home. He saw his neighbor through a second-floor window.

Huber grabbed a ladder stored outside the house and set it up to reach the window.

The first fire engine arrived just as the man had climbed down to safety, Huber said.

"I think that was the first time I met him in person," Huber said of his next-door neighbor.

It took firefighters half an hour to get the blaze under control, Snohomish County Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said.

"The living room was in flames. It would have been very difficult to make it to the front door," she said.

Investigators determined the fire had started in the fireplace. "It was something that probably was smoldering for a long time," Hynes said.

Flames and smoke crippled the home, displacing the homeowner and causing more than $130,000 in damage, Hynes said. The man has insurance.

The homeowner was very fortunate he woke up, Hynes said.

"I do feel that things happen for a reason," Huber said of the rescue. "You just never know what that reason is."



Reporter Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452 or kyefimova@ heraldnet.com.