Couple escapes fire that destroyed Ocean City home

SR 109 closed for several hours

OCEAN CITY — A fire early Thursday morning destroyed a home in the 2700 block of State Route 109 in Ocean City, but the couple who lived there escaped without injury.

The fire closed both lanes of the highway for several hours as crews from Grays Harbor Fire District No. 7 responded to fight the blaze in the double-wide mobile home, along with help from neighboring Ocean Shores and other rural districts.

The home sits above the highway on the east side and water streaming down from the hillsides caused dangerous road conditions when it froze in the 29-degree temperature.

Ocean Shores Police Sgt. David McManus was the first on the scene at about 4;45 a.m.

“It was fully engulfed within five or 10 minutes after I got there,” McManus said.

The man and woman who lived there had managed to escape the blaze. The fire was contained to the home and a separate garage was not damaged, the officer said. “The vehicles were saved but the house was a total loss.”

Fire District No. 7 remained on the scene and an exact cause has not yet been determined.

The biggest issue in fighting the fighter was the need for water tender trucks, and multiple agencies were called to the scene from the other fire districts, McManus noted.

“I know they were calling everybody to bring tanker trucks,” he said.

McManus said the Red Cross was notified and would be sending support for the couple.