FOLLOWUP: North Admiral fire started in Christmas tree, SFD says

Five days after that early-morning fire gutted a North Admiral house and damaged one next door (WSB coverage here), SFD announced what its investigators found:

Fire Investigators ruled the fire accidental, and determined it was caused by a Christmas tree in the living room that had caught fire from either an energized light string or lit candle ornament.

SFD added that to its original Fireline summary of the incident along with this reminder: “Please remember to water your Christmas tree daily and to keep it at least 3 feet away from heating sources (fireplaces, candles, wood stoves, and heat vents).”

WSResident January 3, 2019 (7:48 am)

Wondering if there was a delay in response time by SFD due to the 911 outage during this fire. I see the times listed and read the notes and wonder if the standard response time is really that long or if the call to 911 was delayed. I sure am glad nobody was hurt in this fire.

WSB January 3, 2019 (9:29 am)

Units were dispatched within less than a minute of SFD getting word of the fire. The first to arrive got there four minutes later. Station 29 is just a few blocks away. The question is what was the lag between the first person trying to report it and SFD receiving word. That, I don’t know if public records alone will show, but I’m interested in exploring. – TR
- GOMR January 4, 2019 (10:25 am)
  
  I am one of the neighbors. There was a lag in reporting the fire. We had to fumble to find the substitute phone number that had been relayed earlier that night. One of the neighbors drove to the fire station after not being able to reach them via phone. I am not certain how they got the first word of the fire but there definitely was a delay in the relay.Kudos to the Fire Department in getting over quickly. They were extremely professional and got control of the fire as rapidly as they could. We are also happy that no one was injured in the incident. Century Link and authorities should review the 911 system. For such an important part of our emergency infrastructure, shouldn’t there be a backup or a fallback system?

S January 3, 2019 (8:38 am)

So sad to see this happen. My death tree came down the day after Christmas. Please if you still have it up take it down. There is no reason to have them up still and have the chance of this happening.

ltfd January 3, 2019 (4:03 pm)

Safety video from the National Fire Protection Association – Christmas tree fire inside a room. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr6b9b8FYKk

Judy January 3, 2019 (8:27 pm)

What is an energized light string–just one that is plugged in?

junctioneer January 4, 2019 (10:22 am)

Same question as above–and is a “lit candle ornament” a candle with a wick and flame, or an electrically-lit ornament? Sounds like they mostly just know it started with a tree but not how it actually caught fire?

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