3-alarm fire destroys Silverdale retail building
SILVERDALE, Wash. - A three-alarm fire swept through a retail building near the Kitsap Mall in Silverdale, heavily damaging or destroying several businesses, officials and witnesses said.
Officials later said they suspect the blaze was ignited by a bulb in a tanning bed at the tanning salon located inside the building.
Fire crews raced to the scene in response to the fire, which sent flames and large clouds of billowing smoke into the afternoon sky over Kitsap County.
Six retail stores in a strip mall at the corner of Kitsap Mall Boulevard and Silverdale Way were reportedly destroyed or heavily damaged in the fire.
Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue spokesperson Ileana LiMarzi said the blaze apparently started in the Desert Sun Tanning Salon at about 2:15 p.m., then spread rapidly along the entire length of the building.
The flames swept through a hearing aid center, a cigar store, a Forza coffee shop, beauty salon and other retail outlets, said witnesses.
All of the businesses were evacuated safely and no one was injured, LiMarzi said.
As the fire spread, the roof collapsed at one end of the building and was threatening to cave in at the other end as well, said one witness, Greg Newton of Silverdale, who is a former Navy firefighter.
He said firefighters were hosing the building down with water and preventing the flames from spreading.
The fire was still burning nearly two hours after it began, as fire crews continued their battle against the flames. Units responded from Silverdale, the Bangor naval base and Bremerton.
Traffic was jammed up all through Silverdale, as fire crews blocked major arterials to gain access to the blaze, witnesses said.
Officials later said they suspect the blaze was ignited by a bulb in a tanning bed at the tanning salon located inside the building.
Fire crews raced to the scene in response to the fire, which sent flames and large clouds of billowing smoke into the afternoon sky over Kitsap County.
Six retail stores in a strip mall at the corner of Kitsap Mall Boulevard and Silverdale Way were reportedly destroyed or heavily damaged in the fire.
Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue spokesperson Ileana LiMarzi said the blaze apparently started in the Desert Sun Tanning Salon at about 2:15 p.m., then spread rapidly along the entire length of the building.
The flames swept through a hearing aid center, a cigar store, a Forza coffee shop, beauty salon and other retail outlets, said witnesses.
All of the businesses were evacuated safely and no one was injured, LiMarzi said.
As the fire spread, the roof collapsed at one end of the building and was threatening to cave in at the other end as well, said one witness, Greg Newton of Silverdale, who is a former Navy firefighter.
He said firefighters were hosing the building down with water and preventing the flames from spreading.
The fire was still burning nearly two hours after it began, as fire crews continued their battle against the flames. Units responded from Silverdale, the Bangor naval base and Bremerton.
Traffic was jammed up all through Silverdale, as fire crews blocked major arterials to gain access to the blaze, witnesses said.
