Suspected firework leaves Everett family’s 100-year-old home badly damaged

Published 2:35 pm Monday, August 3, 2026

EVERETT — A wall of well-manicured shrubs used to block Courtney Harp’s 100-year-old Everett home from the traffic driving by on Glenwood Avenue. Now all that remains are burnt stumps.

Around 9:30 p.m. on July 17, Harp believes someone threw a firework out of a car passing her family’s house. The explosion quickly ignited the hedge, sending flames shooting into the summer night sky.

“I was standing here with a hose, it was almost laughable,” Harp said recalling the fire from the charred front yard of her home. “I couldn’t do anything.”

By the time firefighters arrived, Harp said the trees were nearly gone. Radiant heat from the fire cracked windows and melted the siding on the front of the home, while smoke and water damage devastated the interior. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

Limbs from the more than two dozen shrubs that once stood 20 feet tall guarding the property are now piled in the side yard, burnt and discarded like used matchsticks.

Detectives from the property crimes unit are investigating the fire as an arson, with the cause suspected to be fireworks, Everett police spokesperson Natalie Given confirmed on Monday.

Harp described the firework as like a mortar shell with multiple explosions. She said its at least third time someone has driven down the street and thrown a firework in the last year, this time, they caused unfixable damage and a persistent fear the such an unpredictable and invasive incident could happen again.

“We don’t know who did it,” Harp said. “They could be driving by right now.”

The list of necessary repairs to their home is extensive. Harp said the siding and gutters will all need to be replaced, as well as the original doors and window frames that were installed when the home was built in 1925.

Inside, the home is largely down to the studs, revealing the original cedar walls and flooring that will also have to be replaced as the smell of smoke continues to linger more than two weeks after the fire, Harp said.

The historical charm that lured Harp and her family to the home five years ago will soon be a thing of the past.

“It’s just really rough to have to tear that all apart,” Harp said. “You can’t replace it. You can put new things in, you know, but it’s not gonna be the same and it’s just a bummer.”

Insurance is expected to foot the financial bill, but Harp said her family’s peace of mind is shaken and she has considered moving.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Harp said. “Maybe if we can get the word out, someone will say something, because I don’t think people recognize the devastation this has caused.”

Harp said she’s thought about offering a monetary reward in hopes of finding who is responsible. She’s also hoping for systematic change.

Fireworks are already illegal in the city of Everett, but Harp wants to see action taken against those who violate the law.

“It doesn’t feel like there’s any advertisement that fireworks are illegal in the city of Everett,” Harp said. “It seems like it would benefit everyone to share more about the fact that this isn’t allowed and actually do something about it.”

With fireworks readily available for sale at Boom City on the Tulalip Indian Reservation, Harp believes anyone who makes a purchase should be warned about where they can legally be used and the consequences for using them in cities where fireworks are banned.

“Even though people might still do it, it’s at least giving the information,” she said.

As she awaits updates from police, Harp said she hopes sharing her story will help someone understand the devastation they’ve caused a local family, so no one else will endure a similar experience.

“The impact that it actually had is so significant, it’s really wild,” Harp said. “I just want people to recognize that, so that maybe, even if we don’t find out who did it, they learn something from it.”

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Everett Police Department spokesperson as Natalie Givens. Her correct name is Natalie Given.

Ian Davis-Leonard: 425-339-3097; ian.davis-leonard@heraldnet.com