LYNNWOOD — A man was seriously injured in a house fire Sunday night north of Lynnwood.
Paramedics took the man, 30, to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
“He was exposed to flames and smoke,” Snohomish Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said.
Firefighters could see smoke from the fire from several blocks away. As they arrived, they could see large flames coming from the house, which was at the end of a long driveway.
The fire was reported around 7 p.m. at the split-entry house in the 300 block of 140th St. SW north of Martha Lake. It caused more than $275,000 damage.
The injured man was at a neighbor’s house when firefighters arrived. No one else was inside the house at the time of the fire and there were no other injuries.
Firefighters from Fire Districts 1 and 7 had the fire under control within about 20 minutes, but remained on the scene for several hours to watch for hot spots.
An investigator for the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s office determined the fire started in the kitchen when the man fell asleep while food was left cooking on the stove top, Hynes said.
The fire left the house uninhabitable, Hynes said. The man lived with another man who was out of town. It was unknown if either man had renter’s insurance.
Cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries, according to a study conducted by the National Fire Protection Association. Unattended cooking was by far the leading contributing factor in these fires.
Fire District 1 offers these safety tips to prevent cooking fires:
•If you are sleepy or have consumed alcohol don’t use the stove or stove top.
Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short time, turn off the stove.
If you are simmering, baking, roasting or boiling food, check it regularly, remain in the home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.
Keep anything that can catch fire — oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains — away from your stove top.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com
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