College Hill fire causes thousands in damages

Fire+Marshal+Chris+Wehrung%2C+left%2C+and+Building+Inspector+Allen+Luke%2C+right%2C+assess+the+fire+damage+to+a+home+on+NE+Maple+Street+on+Tuesday.

JACQUI THOMASSON | THE DAILY EVERGREEN

Fire Marshal Chris Wehrung, left, and Building Inspector Allen Luke, right, assess the fire damage to a home on NE Maple Street on Tuesday.

RACHEL SUN, Evergreen Roots editor

A fire that started Tuesday afternoon resulted in an estimated $100,000 in damages, according to a statement by the Pullman Fire Department.

Pullman Fire and Whitman County Rural District 12 responded to a fire around 3:30 p.m. on 330 NE Maple St. in Pullman.

The building, which is owned and managed by the Community Action Center (CAC) of Whitman County, sus­tained smoke damage in three other apartments, with two of the four sustaining water dam­age.

Other damages included electrical and plumbing, said fire inspector Tony Nuttman. Firefighters later discovered the upstairs toilet had broken, causing flooding.

CAC employees at the scene told the fire department they had discovered the downstairs fire detector wasn’t working Tuesday morning and returned to replace it just minutes before the fire broke out.

The building is current­ly uninhabitable, and CAC employees said residents living there will be moved to apart­ments owned by the organiza­tion, according to the report.

Officers first at the scene said flames coming from the lower kitchen area were visible when they arrived and resi­dents were immediately evacu­ated. An occupant told firefight­ers the stove was on when he left the building, but it has not yet been determined as the offi­cial cause.

No one was injured in the fire, although some occupants were still looking for pets that appeared to have fled through an open door or window Tuesday afternoon.