SNOHOMISH – A bouquet of helium-filled party balloons are to blame for a small house fire, damage to a travel trailer, and a minor electric shock to one woman.
Crews from the Bonneville Power Administration were still working to fix the damage caused to power lines, said Mike Gatterman, battalion chief of Snohomish County Fire District 4.
Several Mylar balloons, apparently lost by weekend revelers, floated away and got tangled in the transmission box for power lines near the 7700 block of 67th Avenue, west of Snohomish, Gatterman said.
The balloons deflated just enough to create an arc between two power lines, he said. A jolt of electricity zipped down the power pole and hit a metal fence near the ground, he said. The fence, which was already electrified to protect private property, was further energized. The jolt caused a fence post to blow and hit a nearby house, he said.
Another fence post leaning up against a travel trailer ignited, causing a small blaze, he said.
Meanwhile, a woman who lived at the house tried to escape the situation by climbing over the electrified fence, Gatterman said. She was shocked, but wasn’t injured, and was treated and released at the scene, he said.
Fire crews who tried to get to the scene were stopped about a block away because of a car that drove into a ditch, Gatterman said. The minor car accident wasn’t related to the electrical malfunction, but caused yet another headache for emergency crews, he said.
Damage to the house and to the travel trailer is minor, Gatterman said.
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