Cigarette blamed for house fire near Granite Falls

Published 10:37 pm Monday, April 6, 2009

GRANITE FALLS — Fire investigators believe a carelessly discarded cigarette is to blame for a morning fire Monday that caused $90,000 damage and displaced a family.

Crews were called about 9:20 a.m. to a home in the 14700 block of Burn Road, northwest of Granite Falls, Snohomish County Fire District 17 Chief Rick Hjelle said.

It took about a half-hour to douse the blaze and no one was hurt, he said.

A smoldering cigarette likely lit contents of a garbage can on fire, leading to the bigger blaze, said Gary Bontrager, an investigator with the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s Office.

Fires associated with smoking are the leading cause of fire deaths in the United States, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

The Red Cross helped the people who lived in the home.