Fire routs WSU students from home

Fire officials credited a smoke detector and actions of neighbors for saving the lives of six people Friday when a fire broke out in a basement of an older home on College Hill in Pullman.

Firefighters were called just before 6 a.m. to a rental home at 1225 N.E. Lybecker Road and found smoke coming from the basement apartment.

All occupants were out when they arrived, department spokesman Glenn Johnson said in a news release.

The residents of the main floor of the home told firefighters that they were awakened by a smoke detector. While one man called 911, another resident tried to enter the basement through the kitchen but was stopped by smoke and heat, Johnson said.

The same man then went outside and pounded on the windows to awaken the resident downstairs and was able to get him out safely, Johnson said.

Another resident grabbed a fire extinguisher and a garden hose and tried to fight the fire but was unsuccessful.

That resident was later treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and was transported to Pullman Regional Hospital.

He was being treated and remained under observation, Johnson said.

The fire spread to the insulation, which contained wood chips. That added to the difficulty of controlling the blaze, Johnson said.

Pullman firefighters called in additional help from Whitman County Rural District 12 and they were able to finally douse the fire about 7:45 a.m.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but one of the occupants believes it started behind a couch in the basement.

The fire gutted about 80 percent of the interior of the home, Johnson said.

Since all four residents and two guests were students at Washington State University, a representative of Residence Life was called to help them obtain personal items and housing, Johnson said. The students said they would be staying with friends.