Fourth of July keeps Fire District 7 busy

It was a fiery July 4 for Sky Valley emergency responders.

Within a 24-hour period Fire District 7 responders were dispatched 64 times for fire- and fireworks-related calls; no one was injured during any of those incidents.

District 7 spokesperson Heather Chadwick said the volume was likely higher this year than the last because of the dry conditions leading up to the holiday. One of the most intense events recorded between 7 a.m. July 4 and 7 a.m. July 5 was a house fire in the 20100 block of Old Owen Road. The arterial road was closed for nearly two hours while crews worked to extinguish the blaze.

No one was at home at the time the fire was sparked, Chadwick said. Unfortunately, the family “came home to the house already on fire.” Firefighters were called out at 9:23 p.m., she said.

“When fire fighters arrived on scene they found that the fire had spread to the attic,” according to a news release. “Crews worked to knock down the fire and contain it to the attic.”

The cause is still under investigation, Chadwick said. The house was in an area with very few neighboring homes. A witness did see what happened, and law enforcement will reach out to that person, she said.

The Snohomish County Fire Marshal will determine the extent of the damage to the home.

Chadwick said Fire District 7 staff is looking into the cause and cost of damages from each incident. She said some of the July 4 responses were to assist other Snohomish County agencies, and those accounted for 18 of the 64 call outs, according to the news release.