by Staff Report
CLEAR LAKE — The Skagit County fire marshal today determined the causes of two fires that occurred Saturday night in homes just a few blocks from each other.
One fire injured an occupant and resulted in a total loss of a 100-year-old, two-story home on Highway 9.
That fire, reported about 8:15 p.m. Saturday, was caused by an electrical problem that occurred on the enclosed back porch of the home, said Kevin Noyes, deputy fire marshal. He said that he had not determined the exact cause of the electrical problem. The fire spread rapidly, and the family of three lost everything, he said.
A man was treated for burns to his face, hands and arms that night and released from the hospital, firefighters said.
In the second fire, embers from the chimney ignited the cedar shake roof of a home on Old Day Creek Road, and a strong wind fed those flames, which burned a 4-by-4-foot area of the roof, Noyes said. That fire was reported about 8:20 p.m. Saturday.
